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

These amendments are not accepted as it is considered that section 10 of the Bill makes sufficient provision for the chairperson to act on a complaint or otherwise and, in particular, gives the Minister sufficient powers to intervene, where appropriate, to require the chairperson to report to the Minister on the result of an interview or investigation. The existing provisions under the Act required the chairperson to first reach an opinion in relation to the conduct of a board member, which required an initial process to reach that opinion, before they could interview the board member or initiate an investigation. This effectively created a two-stage process which unnecessarily prolonged the process of initiating an investigation. This initial requirement for the chairperson to first reach an opinion is now being repealed. We think this is a much more streamlined, efficient and robust approach.