Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive response, but I am concerned about one line, which says it is really important to state the Minister has no role whatsoever in this process. The Minister has a role in appointing three people who are being assessed by the Public Appointments Service.The Minister will select those nominees. One of them will be appointed immediately and two will be appointed at a later stage. The person he appoints could ultimately be the decider of that battle.

I want the Minister to confirm he will appoint an entirely independent person and will not be open to external interference or lobbying of the kind that went on in the past in respect of the same individual and another board, up to and including calls to the then Taoiseach. Shane Ross alludes to it in his recently published book. He alludes to the pressure he was put under to appoint this individual to another State board. People from the university have expressed to me their deep concerns regarding the potential for external interference in the process of appointing the next individual to the board, in the knowledge that the person in question would come with riding instructions. That is a real fear that is not based on superstition but, rather, on recent facts relating to another board but the same individual. I accept that the Minister of State is not in a position to give this commitment, but I want the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, to outline a clear and direct position to the effect that they will not be open to external interference in the appointment of an independent person to the board and will not countenance any level of interference that might materialise.