Sinn Féin TD John Brady to chair Public Accounts Committee

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Sinn Féin TD John Brady is to chair the Public Accounts Committee, the most powerful of the 28 political panels.

The committee, also known as PAC, is charged with ensuring that public services are run efficiently and offer value for money.

In the last Dáil, the party had hailed Mairead Farrell, the Galway West TD, as the first female chair of PAC after Brian Stanley resigned from Sinn Féin.

Ms Farrell is to chair the Oireachtas Committee on Finance.

Asked on Friday why Sinn Féin had taken Ms Farrell out of the PAC position, party TD Eoin O Broin told reporters that she had been given an “even more significant role” in terms of her frontbench spokeswoman role for public expenditure, infrastructure, public service reform and digitalisation.

He said party leader Mary Lou McDonald had made a “really good selection” and added: “We’ve appointed a significant number of women and women of real stature to committee positions.”

On the other seven Oireachtas committees chaired by Sinn Féin, Matt Carthy is at the helm of the Committee on Justice, Home Affairs & Migration, Maurice Quinlivan is chairing the Committee on Disability Matters, and Rose Conway Walsh is chairing the Defence Committee.

Conor McGuinness is chairing the Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Committee, while Louise O’Reilly is taking the Petitions Committee.

The sharing of 28 Oireachtas committee chair roles between Dáil groupings is based on the general election results.

The individuals appointed to chair committees receive an annual allowance bonus of 10,888 euros.

This week, Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Tanaiste Simon Harris announced their parties’ TDs who will chair committees.

Fianna Fail TDs are chairing eight committees while Fine Gael TDs are at the helm of seven.

For Fianna Fail, John Lahart takes the Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee, Sean Fleming will chair the new Infrastructure Committee and James O’Connor will be at the helm of the Committee on Enterprise.

Cathal Crowe is chairing the Committee on Education, while Erin McGreehan is chairing the Committee on Further and Higher Education.

Cormac Devlin is taking the Committee on Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, Aindrias Moynihan is taking the Committee on Agriculture and Malcolm Byrne is chairing the Committee on Artificial Intelligence.

For Fine Gael, the Housing Committee will be chaired by Micheal Carrigy and Barry Ward will chair the Committee on European Affairs.

New Fine Gael TDs have also been given roles: Naoise O Muiri is the chair of the Climate Committee, Keira Keogh will chair the Committee on Children & Equality, Michael Murphy will chair the Committee on Transport, while John Paul O’Shea is chairing the ​Committee on Social Protection.

For the Social Democrats, Padraig Rice is to chair the Health Committee and Gary Gannon will chair the Committee on Drug Use.

Labour’s Alan Kelly is to chair the Media Committee, and Independent Galway TD Catherine Connolly is to chair the committee on behalf of the Independents and Smaller Parties technical group.