Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 57 is an amendment to section 46 in respect of the functions of the data governance board to provide that the Minister may enter into an arrangement for the provision of consultancy, advice or other services to the board. This is a standard provision given to most boards. I would expect that the skill sets each member will bring to the board will be sufficient for it to carry out its functions internally most of the time. However, I foresee circumstances where it would be appropriate for the board to seek external advice and assistance on specific matters. We discussed this during a previous debate on the Bill. This particularly arises where the board is developing data management rules, procedures and standards and may need to draw on specialised technical advice on certain matters. Nobody would want a situation where we tie the hands of the board so it could not get external advice.

I propose to accept amendment No. 58.

With regard to amendment No. 59, I understand where the Senators are coming from but the phrase "annual review and expiry" would mean we could have a situation where consultancy advice required for more than one calendar year would have to be procured every year. That is not intended. As the Minister of State with responsibility for public procurement, I am aware of the level of administration that has to be dealt with by public bodies and by those tendering who hope and aspire to secure public contracts. Given that amendments Nos. 57 and 58 are accepted, the Senators might consider withdrawing amendment No. 59.