Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

These amendments relate both to the appointment of a CEO and to whom that person would be accountable. They also relate to the appearance of that CEO before the Committee of Public Accounts.

I do not intend to accept the amendments. In line with the usual practice, the appointment of the CEO of a state body will be a matter for the Minister rather than the Oireachtas. With regard to the determination of pay and allowance, it is appropriate that the responsibility for this should lie with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. This is standard practice in legislation and there is no valid reason to change this.

For reasons of accountability, it is, once again, standard practice for the CEO of a body to be accountable to the board of that body. It would be unprecedented and it would amount to poor governance to have a CEO directly accountable to two different groups of people.

The purpose for which the CEO would appear before the Committee of Public Accounts is that the committee would examine a report to the Dáil on the annual financial statement and report of the Comptroller and Auditor General with regard to CHI. CHI will prepare financial statements for the following standard rule and will be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Section 9 of the financial report standard 102 deals with the requirement to prepare and consult a financial statement under the section, and the new body will be required to present a financial statement both for itself and for any of its subsidiaries on a consolidation basis. This means that the CEO is required to give evidence on the economy and efficiency of the standard of the new body in the use of resources, systems, procedures and practices employed by subsidiaries of the new body for the purpose of evaluation and effectiveness of its operations. It would, therefore, be unnecessary and incorrect to reference thisseparately. Accordingly, I do not intend to accept the amendments.