Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Boyhan for his comments on and overview of the issues we are discussing today and the rationale for and the value of the funding. I assure the Senator that a process will be gone through to assess candidates for the HRI board. It is an open application process and recommendations will come to me with the qualifications of the people who have come through the process. I assure the Senator that I will act on this promptly at that stage. We will come at it from the point of view of ensuring there is a very strong mix of skills and talents that will complement the work of the board. The Senator mentioned the importance of following through on and learning from the Indecon and Deloitte reports. It is important they are followed through on. He made an overall point about recognising the level of investment here. He also very importantly recognises the fact that it gives a return and leads to a very genuine economic output, particularly in rural areas, and that provides a strong rationale from an economic point of view for the investment.