I nominate Deputy Kieran O'Donnell.
Election of Vice Chairman
I second that nomination, although a seconder is not required.
As there are no other nominations, I declare Deputy Kieran O'Donnell elected as Vice Chairman.
I thank members for this privilege. I wish the Chairman well in his role, to which he will bring a breadth of relevant experience and knowledge. It is an exciting time to be a member of the Committee of Public Accounts. We have a large body of work to undertake and I do not doubt that we will continue the work already under way. Taxpayers are looking for value for their money. I welcome my election as Vice Chairman and look forward to working with the Chairman and other members during this Dáil term.
I congratulate the Chairman and Vice Chairman on their election. Never has it been so important for the State to seek value for money. The committee has a proud record of holding various Departments to account in a transparent manner for their budgetary decisions. It is important that we plough ahead with a non-partisan approach, although I believe today's vote on the election of Chairman was the first ever. Nonetheless, it is important that we build on the good work done by former members. The Labour Party is proud that some of its members such as the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, and the Minister of State, Deputy Roisin Shortall, played an active role on the committee alongside their colleagues and adopted a strong cross-party approach to achieving its chosen objectives. This approach was never clearer than during the DIRT inquiry. We must be conscious of the need to ensure the delivery of cost effective services. The committee must hold people accountable for how they spend their budgets and ensure value for money and the delivery of cost effective and efficient public services. I again wish the Chairman well in his role.
I congratulate the Chairman and Vice Chairman on their election and wish them well. I am sure they will do an effective job. I believed it was necessary for me to stand for election, not because I held anything against the Chairman personally, as he has a fine record, but because it was inappropriate that anyone who had been a member of Fianna Fáil for a long time should be put in charge of examining the public accounts. It is the worst possible choice and I deeply regret that the Government parties have combined to make it. I would have supported any Independent or Government party Member, but having a Fianna Fáil Chairman is inappropriate, given that that party is responsible for the state of the economy. However, I do not want to denigrate the Chairman's personal position, as he has a good record on this subject and will make a fine Chairman despite the constraints of being a member of Fianna Fáil.
I congratulate the Chairman on his election. This important committee will carry out an extensive body of work in the coming years. I had the privilege of serving on the committee during the previous Dáil. It is important that the Chairman is fearless and challenges witnesses. He will ensure our meetings are conducted professionally and that members are facilitated in forensically questioning those who will appear before us. He is a character who is not afraid to challenge people or the Establishment. From experience, I know party politics are left at the door of the committee. Members attend as individuals and carry out their functions on behalf of the people, not any political party. The Chairman will not be constrained in any way by the membership of his party, Fianna Fáil. I wish him well in his task, which is an onerous one, but he is up to it. He will have the full support of the committee.
As far as the Government Deputies are concerned, the Whip was applied to our vote. I cannot speak for anyone else, but had there been a free vote, I would still have voted for Deputy John McGuinness as Chairman. Deputy Shane Ross should not assume that he would make a better Chairman. I would have some concerns about him and his cheerleading of Michael Fingleton and Seánie FitzPatrick in the past decade.
That is nonsense, but I will let it go.
I have read what the Deputy wrote in the past ten years.
The Deputy obviously has not.
The Deputy would not be an appropriate person to be Chairman.
I congratulate the Chairman on his election. Traditionally, this has been a hard working committee and there has never been a more important time to have a strong membership. I also congratulate the Vice Chairman on his election. All members must park whatever baggage or party allegiance they carry outside the door when they attend meetings of the committee. Whatever party we belong to, we were all elected by the people to represent them. We should stop the party political stuff and get on with the important business ahead of us.
I join other members in wishing the Chairman and Vice Chairman well. In the Chamber we raised the question of the size and composition of the committee. The state of affairs would be healthier were a difference balance struck between the Government and the Opposition, but that decision has been taken.
I do not doubt the Chairman's capacity to be impartial and professional, which is not at issue. However, I share the opinion of Deputy Shane Ross that it is ironic that the Government has facilitated the passage of Deputy John McGuinness into the role of Chairman. We have work to do and will need to park party politics outside the door. However, it is worth reflecting on the fact that the Government, up to and including the Taoiseach, has spent the majority of its time involved in a political Punch and Judy show with Fianna Fáil, blaming that party for our woes and the ills of the world and the economic collapse. Despite this, it has decided to gift the position of Chairman to someone who, while capable, is a member of Fianna Fáil. This is both ironic and disappointing. I would have favoured an independent Chairman and Deputy Ross would have been an appropriate person to fill the role. However, we are where we are and I wish the Chairman well.
On this committee the long-standing tradition has been for a member of the largest Opposition party to take the Chair. It is no mystery to anyone. Anyone who starts lecturing at this meeting about who should be in the Chair without taking due cognisance of our long-standing tradition is not fulfilling a democratic mandate. That is the politics of this committee. It has been non-partisan and highly successful. People who do not subscribe to that have no business coming into this committee.
With respect, Deputy McCarthy you have no business questioning the right of another elected Member-----
It is a long-standing tradition and Deputy McDonald knows that as well as do the rest of us. It is a long-standing tradition.
-----of this committee to be in this room. There are many long-standing traditions. As I understand it, the Deputy's party is in the business of reform. I would respectfully suggest to the Deputy that stewardship of this committee would have been as good a place to start as any.
The Chairman is a member of the Opposition. Wake up and smell the coffee.
That is my view and I am entitled to express it.
I wish the Chairman well in his new role and I congratulate my colleague, Deputy Kieran O'Donnell, on his election as vice-chairperson. It is important the Chairman is aware that he is not, as chairperson, a member of any political party for the purpose of proceedings of this committee. It is important the Chairman is and, I am sure he will be, impartial in ensuring all members have an opportunity to scrutinise and probe the various accounts of Departments and agencies. In appointing Deputy McGuinness to the position of Chairman we are putting it up to him because, as many members will be aware, this committee will discuss money already spent, mistakes made and value for money obtained at a time when the Fianna Fáil party was in Government. If the Chairman wants to answer his critics, he will have an opportunity to do so very quickly. We need a vigorous chairman and I trust Deputy McGuinness will rise to that challenge. I wish him well.
Much great work has been done by previous Committees of Public Accounts. I do not believe it will take us long to work out that much of that good work has not been followed through. While I am aware that we will discuss our programme for work later, I believe this area needs to be looked at. An issue that springs to mind at this time of the year is passports and value for money from the passport service. Many value for money audits have been done on the passport service yet the Department of Foreign Affairs continues to tell people they will have difficulty getting passports on time this year. I look forward to working with the Chairman and other members in a non-partisan fashion and to playing my role in this committee.
Would any other Deputy like to contribute?
This committee has a proud tradition. My colleagues have referred to the various projects that have come before it, namely the DIRT inquiry, which was high profile. It is important that we deal with a body of work that is relevant and that we continue work commenced by the previous committee. I note that examination of NAMA and the banks is ongoing, extremely relevant issues in the current climate. We should take up that type of work. This committee can do fantastic work given the quality of membership. It is important that we invite in appropriate witnesses whom we will need to probe and extract correct answers from regardless of how long it takes us to get those answers. I have no doubt that the Chairman will work with all colleagues on the committee, as will I as Vice Chairman, to ensure we get to the truth of matters. That is what the public wants and is entitled to.
Regardless of the party of which we are members, we are elected to get to the heart of matters on behalf of the public. This committee is challenged with getting value for taxpayers' money and management of the public purse. We must get down to work and deal with the matters on hand. It is important that this committee, when the term of office of this Government expires, will have completed a tangible body of work and will have effected change. That is what was done by the DIRT inquiry. It is important that there is a beginning, a middle and an end in terms of implementation of our recommendations. That is the key focus for us as a committee.
I, too, congratulate Deputy O'Donnell on his election as Vice Chairman. I take this opportunity to make clear to those who might doubt my credentials that when Vice Chairman of this committee I did not bring my party position into this room. I carried out my duties on the basis of what gets counted gets done, on the need for reform in the public sector and the need for good corporate governance within every Department and agency. I have every intention of carrying on in that vein during the course of this Administration. While members might think chairmanship of this committee a challenge for me as a member of the Fianna Fáil Party it is no challenge whatsoever. My mind is clear and set on what needs to be done. What we need to ensure during these straitened times is that those who appear before the committee are, in terms of their figures and work, challenged in a forensic manner. We must make clear to them that we want to see change.
On Deputy Harris's point, there will be a time when we will reflect on the spending of the Fianna Fáil-led Government when in office. I have no difficulty with that. I encourage all members to be rigorous in their examination of those accounts, officials and Ministers concerned. I have no difficulty in that regard either. It is important to make the point, in terms of the challenges facing the current Government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party, that the changes we recommend must be implemented by the Government. The report presented by the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, when a member of this committee, with my assistance and that of other members of the committee, which demanded change now needs to be examined.
The suggestion that this committee would perhaps scrutinise local government audits as part of our work also needs to be examined. If members have ideas about reform or the manner in which we should conduct our business in the future, this is the place to air them. It cannot be business as usual. It is up to us, as members of this committee, to set aside our political differences after this meeting and to act as one in relation to examination of those accounts, in regard to where we believe improvements can be made and to pursue those goals without fear or favour. That is what I intend to do as Chairman. I intend to work, regardless of politics, with each member of the committee so that we can protect taxpayers' interests and bring about much needed reform. I hope that following this meeting we will spend our energy on developing our work programme and ensuring that we fulfil our duties as members of this committee.