Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While I am not surprised by the script the Minister of State has been given to read out in response, it is always disappointing when what can be considered friendly amendments in the spirit of the Bill are simply rejected. I refer to the amendments not only in my name and that of Deputy Gould but also those in Deputy Duncan Smith's name. These are attempts to strengthen the legislation. I am always wary when we are told we do not need to be specific about something because it is captured in the generality of the Bill. We all know from practice that once a Bill is passed, if something is not specified the chances of it happening are lower.

The idea that there would not be a requirement for land expertise, for example, strikes me as bizarre, as do the other cases. The difficulty with a code of practice is it is a code, not a legal requirement. Given the volumes of money and land, particularly valuable public land, that will be moving through this agency, the idea that it would not be good to have a more stringent protection against conflicts of interest, not least because of how small this country is and how narrow our business, commercial and housing interests are, I am surprised. I suspect that if I were able to read the Minister of State's mind as he was reading the Civil Service script, he might not necessarily have agreed with everything he was reading out, but we will have to deal with that in some other way. His position is unfortunate and I will press the amendments.