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Oireachtas Debate s
l M l L QUESTIONS — 5 FEBRUARY 1975
IRISH STAFF FOR EEC
t
Mr.
La 11ass: Is it intended to fill the Secretary's })ost
"i Luxembu r g?
^ ' -Ge r a l d: Yes, 1 hope to he able to fill it over
'
e
coming months. Because of our current Presidency
°f the European Community we have had to deploy
staff on a temporary basis and quite a numlier of our
missions abroad arc" understaffed for that reason at this
tune. n ,
a t
position will he mitigated, although not
Perhaps completely remedied, at the end of the present
session.
. Mr. LcmasJ:
Is the Minister experiencing difficulty
»n rccruiting suitable staff for his Department.
HtzGerald: This year I think we have had more
successful applications than ever l>cfore, • of course
°ur needs are greater than ever before.
Chairmen of EEC Committees
. J ; \ M r . O'Kenncdy asked the Minister for Foreign
•»nairs the number, if any, of the chairmen of the
committees and working groups of the Council of
j unsters of the European Community to lie provided
)y
Iceland from January to June, 1.975, who arc not
members of the public scrvice.
; I'itzGerald: All chairmen of committees and
forking groups of the Council to he provided by
reland in the period from January to June, 1975.
g!.
c lne
mbers of the public service. Ireland is providing
chairmen for some 189 committees and working
groups. Eightv-four chairmen are from Government
e
Partnients and offices, including one retired civil
Ser
vant who is being employed on a fee basis. The
remaining 14 chairmen are drawn from the following
l>odies:
Number of
Chairmen
%
2
2
4
3
1
2
ha^
lr
* °
K e n n e d
>
:
view of the fact that the Minister
s told us that there are approximately 200 sub-com-
ittces, does the Minister not think it would be appro-
of
1
tff
h a V C a
P P ° '
n t e d
to the chairmanship of some
sp • i
6
^
o r k
'
n
g committees some people who have
Yo t ^ ^
a n d
^ c '
3
' expertise in various areas?
ind
°
s p e c i a l
committees for lawyers, for the paper
j^.
u
.
str
V and for the various professions. Would the
ne
J."
lslCr n
° t think it would be entirely desirable, if not
cha'
SSary
*
t h a t t h e r c s , l 0 u l d l)e
special provision for
S
tat
lrn
^
ans
.
hi
P from outside the public sen-ice or senii-
Dr. Fit/Gerald: We have to distinguish here between
committees of working groups which are concerned
with questions of government policy, in the context of
the Community, and with putting forward the views
of the Irish Government on matters, and other informal
groupings that exist where the interests of different
sectors of the Community are represented — the Econ-
omic and Social Committee and many other working
parties; I do not know what exact title one gives them
— and where expert advice is given by the representat-
ives of different interests to those concerned with de-
cision making. The bodies with which I am concerned
here are the committees and working groups of the
Council of Ministers which represents Governments.
Mr. O'Kcnnedy: I take it from what the Minister has
said that in fact there is no binding regulation which
precludes the Government from nominating chairmen
to these committees, in view of the fact that there are
people there who were not in the public service. In
view of that might I suggest that in some areas — in
the area of the paper industry, insurance lawyers or
any others — it would be more appropriate to have the
profession or business organisation represented by chair-
men for a number of reasons which must be obvious
to the Minister.
Dr. FitzGerald: I do not think it is as simple as that.
It is very important that the views of these interests
.. )uld he represented through their own commitees
which are providing advice to the Council and the
Commission. We are talking here of committees which
represent governments and putting forward Government
policy. As far as that is concerned there is a danger
in having somebody who represents a sectional interest
putting forward a view for that sectional interest which
may not be in consonance with government policy as
a whole, so there is a practical difficulty there.
Mr.
O'Kennedy: Take, for example, the question
of the legal professions. I do not know what would be
the attitude of the Government to the right of estab-
lishment of lawyers under the European Community
but surely it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that
a responsible and representative lawyer could in fact
express, after consultation, the Government view, as
chairman ?
Dr. FitzGerald: I would not rule that out a priori.
Mr.
O'Kenncdy: If the Minister would not rule it
out would the Minister not then consider that, in view
of the lawyer's qualifications in the area, it would be
desirable to have a person who has such a skill.
Dr. FitzGerald: It could be if we did not have an
adequately qualified person available in or attached
to the Government service.
Mr.
O'Kennedy: Is the Minister satisfied that he has
within the public service adequately qualified people
to chair all of these 200 sub-committees?
Dr. FitzGcrald: Yes, to represent government policy
on them; certainly not people with the expert knowledge
to provide the detailed view of the profession concerned,
which is provided by that profession through the
Body
An Foras Talúntais
Tráchtála
ndustrial Development Authority
'nstitute for Industrial Research
and Standards
Rational Science Council
...
*«t»ctive Practices Commission
50