Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

The Green Party will oppose the Bill on the grounds of the important principle at stake, that the degree of independence which existed has been compromised. The independence of many State bodies is compromised with regard to the method of appointment of such boards and this should be a subject of a wider debate.

The devolution of these powers to the Minister and the Government does not bode well for our political system. While I accept the commitment given by the Minister a few minutes ago that he will work to ensure that the system will not be warped, we will still have an ongoing difficulty, irrespective of whatever future role the Taoiseach might have in mind for the Minister or what the electorate of his constituency might have in mind for who gets elected to future Dáileanna. On those grounds we know that political manipulation of discretionary funds is not only possible, sadly it has been practised all too frequently in the history of political life here. It is not appropriate to allow new legislation to operate on the same basis as previous funds have operated to a nearly fraudulent level. Some discretionary public funds, including ones operating under a statutory basis, have been abused and misused for nakedly political purposes because of the degree of public control that existed in the past. In passing the Bill the House would do a disservice to put back——

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