Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree in principle with the proposal in the Bill to take this issue away from the Executive and give it to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. We should all be in favour of transferring power from the Executive to the Parliament. Can the Minister of State tell me whether I am right to say this will not affect the people who are in these positions at the moment? I believe we are talking about what will happen when these positions come up in the future. If that is the situation, and I presume it is, I would see no problem with a fixed term at that stage. It is not specified in the Bill, however. I think there should be a specified period. We have all mentioned the seven-year period that applies to county managers and so on. They have seven years and an option to apply again for a further term or part of a term. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. The same thing should apply to these senior posts as well. I cannot see why it should be any different in this case from the cases of other people within the public service.