Dr. Gavin Barrett:

In regard to my point regarding decentralisation and centralisation, there is not actually a contradiction there. I am referring here to subsidiarity within the Oireachtas. There is a need for decentralisation in the sense that all committees must become involved. It is not possible in a single committee to have sufficient expertise to deal with agriculture, fisheries, the environment and so on. At the same time, if we simply leave them to operate on their own without any central control, it will not work. That is the context in which I am arguing that both centralisation and decentralisation are needed.