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

I move amendment No. 132:

In page 23, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “(5) Shares in the Agency shall not be sold or otherwise transferred without the prior approval of the Government.”

Members of the committee will recall that we had a session with the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG. Members were effusive in their support and praise for the good work of local city and county councillors, and seemed to be supportive of the many concerns they were raising with this legislation. Amendments Nos. 132 and 133 are two of the 12 or 13 amendments that the AILG submitted to members and that it urged us to table and support. So far, none of the amendments it tabled have been supported and one has been referred back to the Minister for further consideration.

What these amendments do is self-explanatory. Amendment No. 132 states: "Shares in the Agency shall not be sold or otherwise transferred without the prior approval of the Government.” I suspect the Minister will tell me that is the case anyway but it would be much more reassuring if it was contained within the legislation so it is a legal requirement. Amendment 133 states: "Notwithstanding anything contained in the Companies Acts, no alteration of the memorandum of association or the articles of association of the subsidiary shall be valid or effectual unless made with the prior approval of the Government.” This is a very significant amendment.I have to praise the AILG because some of its amendments are very carefully worded to protect the public interest.

Where there is a subsidiary DAC that has charge of significant tracts of land, significant public funds or public borrowings and is potentially in partnership with a private developer through a joint venture, the amendment makes very clear that if there is any attempt to change the articles of association or memorandum governing that subsidiary, the Government has to have explicit approval for that. Again, I can see no reason the Government would not accept this given that the LDA is set up to comply with Government policy. Therefore, any significant change to the articles of association or memorandum of understanding should clearly have Government approval. For that reason, I will be pressing both amendments.