asked the Minister for the Public Service if he will assure members of Dáil Éireann that the newly elected members of the Joint Committee on State-Sponsored Bodies which will investigate the affairs of Údarás na Gaeltachta will have full power to appoint its own advisers to assist them; that the choice of such advisers will be solely confined to them; and that no Government Department or civil service personnel will be allowed to have anything to do to influence the appointment of people of their choice.
Written Answers. - Joint Committee's Advisers.
267.
The Order of Reference of the Joint Committee on State-Sponsored Bodies provides that the committee may engage the services of persons with specialist or technical knowledge to assist it for the purposes of particular inquiries, subject to my consent. The procedure would be for the committee itself to select the person it wished to engage and to request me to approve the appointment. In examining such a proposal, I would be concerned primarily with the terms of the contract of employment, rates of fee etc. I would not normally concern myself with the committee's choice.