Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As I said to the Minister earlier, when he said in his statement that he felt it made sense for the IAA to be appointed as the airport noise regulator, he cannot blame people for being concerned now if his thoughts on that proved to be wrong, given the legal advice that stated that the appointment of the IAA could have been subject to legal challenge. It is now widely felt he then appointed Fingal County Council in haste, given the delay that ensued up and until he got the legal advice on the IAA. It is clear from what the Minister has said that Fingal County Council does not have the expertise for this specialist area. It has the same knowledge and information as every other local authority but that is all it has. On the importance of an independent regulator, I note it is in receipt of 8% of its funding. While the Minister has stated 8% is low compared with 92%, 8% of any local authority's funding is substantial and given the legal advice on what could have come from appointing the IAA, it is important that any body or competent authority that is appointed be completely independent and not in any way reliant on funding in such a way that its judgment could be swayed or it could be seen not to be entirely independent. That is a real concern and the Minister has not really answered that in any specific detail. I wonder if he can be clearer on that because it is a worry.