Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am afraid that I cannot accept the amendments as worded, but that is not to say that on Report Stage we might not be able to get at what the Deputy would like to achieve. As worded, the amendment would, in effect, makes this committee a statutory consultee. That is not best practice and we have fears about how it might undermine the independence of the regulator. I do not refer to the current membership of the committee, but we are setting up something that is going to be independent of government and the Oireachtas and will do very important work for a number of years. The amendment would perhaps undermine certain aspects of those functions, notwithstanding the fact that, of course, the regulator's office will be accountable to the committee in public appearances and answering questions about its operations.