Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and wish him well in his new appointment.

Section 17 (3) states that the chief executive shall not be required to give account before a committee for any matter that is or has been or may at a future time be the subject of proceedings before a court or tribunal in the State. That seems very vague and wide, in particular in the context of a body such as this, where there is potential for commercial disputes and issues of costs and procurement ending up in the commercial courts. It seems to give much leeway to a chief executive who may not be inclined to co-operate with a committee to use that section as a reason not to do what we all agree he or she should do.