Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the thrust of this amendment and I understand where the Senators are coming from. I am conscious of the parameters that are laid down in section 13 regarding membership of the authority and the parameters laid down in section 15 in respect of the criteria for the Public Appointments Service that must be applied in recommending somebody to the Minister for appointment. Can the Minister of State address a number of issues in this area? First, amendment No. 37 has a reference to a person who has personal experience of harmful gambling. While the Minister of State has not indicated whether he will accept the amendment, will that be addressed in another way? Will there be a provision to allow the board to have that very valuable experience of harmful gambling behaviours? We know that part of the genesis and impetus of this Bill is to address exactly that behaviour. Even though this affects a small number of people, the extent to which they have an impact on their families and on wider society is enormous. Is it right, therefore, that the board should contain that level of experience?

Second, on the proposed insertion of subsection (5) in amendment No. 47 to do with having people who come from the industry, it would be undesirable and I presume the Minister or her successor in title would be totally opposed to a notion where the industry could conceivably take over those positions. If we look at section 15 and the criteria set down for the Public Appointments Service in selecting people for recommendation for appointment, many people with experience of the industry are going to come from the industry. Given the harmful practices of some industry players, what safeguards are there within the PAS and the Minister's office to ensure that such people are not selected for the board?

I also note that in section 13(3), there is a requirement that there be a certain number of men and women on the board. I personally do not agree with that. It is not necessary and people should be selected on merit. We should of course be striving to have balance between genders but that is not the only diversity we require. The kind of diversity that is being proposed by amendment No. 47 is arguably more valuable then gender diversity on the board. There are lots of aspects of society that may not be represented on the board through the achievement of section 13(3). What measures are planned to be put in place, either within the Public Appointments Service or the Minister’s office, with a view to achieving diversity that is actually reflective of society, including those who might have been the victims of gambling addiction?