Open competition for senior appointments
Senator Barrett questions whether the Department of Finance has corrected its shortage of qualified economists and whether senior appointments should be subject to open competition.
The problem, according to the Wright report on the financial crisis, was that the Department of Finance was distinctly short on qualified economists. While I hope the situation has been rectified so that it no longer needs open competition, in general we should favour open competition. This is a vital appointment.
Comment on this
Mr. Wright found that in the Canadian Government in Ottawa, approximately 60% of senior staff had qualifications in economics at masters level and above compared to only 7% in the Department of Finance in Dublin. Has this deficit been rectified and is it a good idea that we do not have open competition for this vital post? Perhaps we could have a debate in the House with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, and discover whether there has been a policy change. He seemed to favour more outside representation for the top level appointments committee, TLAC.