Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I take the Cathaoirleach's point. As I have said, the key thing we want to ensure is that we have practical farming experience among the membership. On the committee's considerations, it was asked whether this means that farm organisations should get to make nominations. Does allowing farm organisations to nominate members make it more independent? The Cathaoirleach's view is that it may. Senator Paul Daly asked whether the fact that the Minister will be appointing the chair will affect the panel's independence. Does the fact that the Minister is involved make the panel seem less independent? If a particular farming organisation is nominating members, could that be seen to have an even greater effect on its independence? Looking at the Agri-Food Regulator I established recently, one of the key criteria was farmer representation but that farmer representation is not directly nominated by farm bodies. However, looking at the outcome of the nominations I made as Minister, there is very strong farmer representation in the regulator. There are two former farm organisation presidents and people with different farming experience. We can get farm representation without direct nominations. If there were to be direct nominees, would the panel be seen as less independent rather than more independent? That is just a point to consider. However, the outcome definitely needs to be strong farmer experience on the panel.