Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 February 2017
38. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to outline the reason he sanctioned the use of €58,556 by Fáilte Ireland in its recruitment of the new chief executive; the reason he allowed Fáilte Ireland to operate outside of the Public Appointments Service; and if this will be common practice throughout all the organisations under his Department. [6036/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn the recent past the Minister has sanctioned the appointment of a new chief executive of Fáilte Ireland. In doing so, the Minister allowed Fáilte Ireland to go outside the public appointments system to hire a private company. Fáilte Ireland tendered for the assignment and it cost the taxpayer €58,556.
Why did the Minister sanction this? Why did the Minister sign off on it? Why did the Minister waste taxpayer money? Will this be common practice in Fáilte Ireland or throughout the agencies under the Department?
I thank Deputy Kelly for tabling this topical, useful and relevant question. The cost of the recruitment process is a matter for the organisation in question. In this case, the National Tourism Development Authority, Fáilte Ireland, did not require or seek my approval for costs associated with the recruitment of the new chief executive officer. This is a matter for the authority.
I will set out some background. The consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to fill the chief executive post was sought by my Department with sanction being received early in 2016. This sanction was subject to a number of conditions, including the condition that the filling of the post be by means of an open competition.
The legislation underpinning the authority does not require it to use the Public Appointments Service for this. Likewise, the code of practice for the governance of State bodies, recently revised, does not require PAS to be used.
Following consideration by the authority, it was decided to undertake the recruitment process through a private recruitment firm rather than through the Public Appointments Service.
The authority has assured me that the search and selection processes undertaken were robust and thorough. Moreover, it has assured me that all candidates went through the same rigorous transparent process and were dealt with in a fair manner.
Future appointments of chief executive officers will continue to be made in accordance with the code of practice for the governance for State bodies and any legislation relevant to the body in question.
While the cost of the recruitment process is a matter for the authority, the authority has provided a breakdown of the figure that Deputy Kelly produced.
I have it.
I thought it might be helpful for the Deputy to know, if he does not already know, that the advertising cost €23,972, including VAT, and recruitment cost €34,594.
I thank the Minister. That was the answer I expected. I do not buy this rubbish to the effect that this was done before the Minister started. Actually, it was done in April and the Minister took up office in May. I would have expected that someone who chased these issues from the seats above not so long ago would have stopped this process and ensured that the PAS was used.
I have several questions for the Minister. Was it a good use of taxpayer money to waste €58,000, seeing as the authority could have used PAS? Does the Minister expect all the agencies under his Department to use PAS in future? Will the Minister oblige those agencies to save taxpayer money by using PAS? Will Fáilte Ireland be using PAS in future? Under the process signed off by the Department, why did the Minister not have confidence in anyone from his Department, for example, the Secretary General or the relevant assistant secretary, both of whom I know and support? Did the Minister not have sufficient confidence in these people to allow them to sit on the interview panel?
Of course the authority could have used the Public Appointments Service. Fáilte Ireland was perfectly at liberty to do so. However, the authority is also at liberty to go outside PAS. It is not necessarily always the right course to go through PAS. If an organisation is looking for a particular type of person, it could use an agency specialising in that area.
We leave these things to the agencies. That is the point. That is why we have a board and chairman. That set-up allows the authority to make these selections. The board, chaired by Michael Cawley, in whom I have great confidence, decided that it wanted to go to an outside recruitment company. It is perfectly legitimate for the board to make that decision. The board knows it will cost money from the budget. The board may take the view that it represents value for money. If that is the view of the board, then I am satisfied that it can proceed in that way. PAS exists for a specific purpose. It is to be used in the vast majority of cases, although not all cases. It is a matter of discretion for the chairman in respect of what route he goes. That is fine.
I would appreciate if the Minister answered the questioned I asked. He did not say he has confidence in PAS.
I raised this issue previously. At the time, the Minister had not even met representatives from Fáilte Ireland. It took the Minister six months or so to meet representatives from Fáilte Ireland. Under the Acts, the authority has to get the Minister to sign off on the chief executive and the procedure. Fáilte Ireland brought this to the Minister but he had not even met representatives from Fáilte Ireland at that stage. I do not have confidence in the process conducted.
Fáilte Ireland is actually advertising positions on PAS now. It seems to have changed its belief system in terms of how it goes about recruitment, which is very interesting.
As a former journalist and a former Opposition Member, Deputy Ross would have waxed lyrical about the waste of money that is going on here. Ultimately, Fáilte Ireland is funded by the taxpayer and it is wasting €58,000 on a recruitment process that can be done professionally and as well, if not better, by PAS. Does the Minister have confidence in PAS? Will it be used by the other agencies or is the Minister going to continue to allow the waste of taxpayers' money when we have a perfectly good process that is used by almost everyone else in the public system?
The Deputy asked me in whom I have confidence. I have full confidence in the Secretary General and all of the other senior and junior staff in my Department. I have absolutely no reason not to put them in positions of authority and responsibility and I will continue to do so, where it is appropriate. I also have full confidence in PAS. That said, it is case of horses for courses. In some instances, it is useful while, in others, it is more appropriate to go elsewhere. I have full confidence in the chairman of Fáilte Ireland as well. Indeed, I have full confidence in everybody the Deputy has mentioned so far. To suggest that I am, undermining these systems in some way is incorrect. All I am saying, very simply-----
It is costing the taxpayer a great deal of money.
-----is that this is a matter for the chairman and the board of Fáilte Ireland.
The taxpayer loses.
If they want to go outside the PAS, that is their decision. That is their job.
