Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister may have noticed that, tempted as I may have been to do so, I did not get into the question of political appointments to boards and I will not do so at this stage because what she has said actually strengthens our argument. It is welcome that people will be appointed through the PAS system as it will depoliticise the process. However, the Minister of the day might not personally know the people appointed and might have never worked with them. Board members will appoint the chairperson, but most of the time they will spend together will be at board meetings where they will make decisions. The best way to decide who the best person is to run meetings effectively is to sit in at meetings with the candidates. We probably have all had experience of being on boards where we did not have a good chairperson and things did not move as quickly or efficiently as they should have, just as we will have had experience of boards with a very good chairperson who allowed everybody the space to make his or her points. The board members would be in a much better position to make this decision than the Minister. The Minister has appointed people who technically have the competence to be chairperson and have passed through the PAS system; therefore, they should all have reached the necessary level of expertise, not in every respect but enough to be on the board. This strengthens the argument in favour of accepting the amendment.