Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators Higgins, Ruane, Flynn and Black for these amendments, which propose that the chief executive of an coimisiún may only be reappointed once. Section 20(6), as passed by the Dáil, limits the chief executive of an coimisiún to serving no more than ten years in total where a term of office is a maximum of five years.

Amendment No. 7 and amendment No. 8, the withdrawal of which I accept, propose to remove section 20(6) and instead insert that the chief executive can be reappointed "only once".Both of these approaches seek to achieve the same goal. The option that has been proposed by the Senators was, in fact, considered in the course of the drafting. However, my officials and I were guided by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, OPC, on the best form of wording and consequently, intend to proceed with the text of the Bill.

Amendment No. 10 relates to section 22 of the Bill, which provides for the removal of the chief executive of an coimisiún and sets out the process for his or her removal by the membership of an coimisiún. Having regard to the principles of natural justice, section 22(4)(b) allows for the chief executive, having received notice of his or her proposed removal, to make representations to members of an coimisiún in response to members’ written notification of their proposal to remove him or her from office.

This amendment proposes that any representations that are made by the chief executive under this subsection be recorded. I do not propose to accept this amendment, as the proposed amendment does not set out for how long such a record should be retained. The data retention policy of an coimisiún, which is prepared in consideration of its statutory data protection obligations, will set out how the records should be kept and for how long. I am of the view that the decisions on such document retention would be made with the benefit of specialised human resources and data protection advice, having regard to the need to balance the obligation of an coimisiún as an employer, versus the appropriate level of detail, which should be come a matter of public record.