Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to comment on the response of the Minister on the question of independence. He was going through the downside for the Commission for Aviation Regulation, but his comments were in the context of the current situation and where CAR is today. Deputy Daly outlined what has been proposed and why it is important. She set out why the changes that have been proposed are so important in the context of the proposal for CAR. The regulatory components of IAA are going to CAR and that is a game-changer. We should really respond in that context rather than in the context of the Minister saying the organisation is too small and does not have the relevant competencies. I am seeking a brief comment on the Fianna Fáil proposal. I do not think that does it. It does not deliver the independence required.

I have argued about the lack of independence of Fingal County Council but I did not mention anything about the income from rates.

I made my argument based on the content of the regulation. I read out Article 3.2 and Deputy Clare Daly read out Article 13. Do the words contained in the regulation not have any meaning? We read the words. We are reasonably intelligent people and can say that words mean something. The Minister's response is that everything is grand, but we are specifically referring to words in the regulation. They must have meaning. They refer to functional separation and being independent of the people who are affected. If those words have no meaning, the Minister's response earlier regarding the balanced approach will have no meaning either because he is relying on definitions relating to the balanced approach in the regulation. We are directly citing the words contained in the regulation yet the Minister is dismissing them as if they do not exist.