Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second this amendment in the strongest possible terms. The Government proposes to hand-pick an individual and I must note this debate is not about the individual person but about the principle itself. He could be the saviour of the health service for all one knows. However, the point is one will not know that unless there is an open recruitment process. In its programme for Government, the Administration proposed that all such appointments would be made through an open public process but that is not proposed in this case. Tosach maith leath na hoibre and while a good start is half the job, the Minister has not made a good start in this regard. He has gone completely against the programme for Government. The people are crying out for more open and transparent Government but are not getting it from Fine Gael and the Labour Party. It is all talk and no action. While claims are made that this or that is being reformed, there is no action. It is going back to the old ways against which the public voted in the February 2011 election. The Minister will respond by stating we are lucky to have this individual. Perhaps we will be and I hope so, but that is the Minister's opinion. In the case of all the people appointed over the years, I am sure the Ministers concerned thought the country was lucky to have them. However, that is not the point, which is that these appointments are supposed to be taken out of the political process. Such appointments are supposed to be made in a transparent manner but that has not been done in this case. A time will come, within the next few months, when Members will scrutinise the programme for Government to ascertain what is or is not being done. On the question of openness and transparency, the Government will receive a big fail mark and this is just one example of it.