Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

Tá an cluiche beagnach thart anois agus tá sé soiléir go mbeidh an bua ag an Rialtas agus go bhfuil gach duine ar an taobh seo den Teach go láidir i gcoinne an Bhille. Ar dtús, bhí bord neamhspleách ag dul an t-airgead seo a bhronnadh ar na comhlachtaíéagsúla a chuirfeadh iarratas isteach leis ach níl sin ag tarlú anois. Molaim oifigigh na Ranna. Shocraigh an Rialtas an Bille seo a thógáil isteach ach caithfidh oifigigh an Stáit a bheith dílis don chinneadh a dhéanann an Rialtas agus gach cabhair a thabhairt don reachtaíocht.

Tá an tAire i ndáiríre ach beidh Páirtí an Lucht Oibre, agus na páirtithe eile sa bhFreasúra, ag vótáil i gcoinne an Bhille.

I do not doubt the personal sincerity of the Minister in regard to the integrity of the process by which the moneys will be disbursed under the new dispensation that will come in on foot of this legislation. We took in good faith the Minister's commitment to do everything possible to have this legislation covered by the Freedom of Information Act 1997 from its establishment day and we have no doubt of the Minister's good faith in that regard.

Ultimately nobody in this House is convinced that any real reason exists for the changes introduced. An independent board already existed which was able to hire outside services to assist it in the discharge of its functions. The Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has introduced outside agencies to deal with some of the workload and it is likely that process will continue. It will be interesting to see whether the taxpayer will get a better deal with what the board has been doing or what the Department will be doing. I take the point that this is not taxpayers' money as such — it is money that belongs to the community in a very special way. It is not money that was collected by way of taxation. It is money that has been disregarded and not claimed. We all agree with the principle of using that money.

Once again we face a significant job to resurrect the image of politics here. With the intensity of media scrutiny it is no longer enough to be virtuous; processes must be seen to be virtuous in terms of integrity, services, etc. While I stand to be correct if I am wrong, I understand the Dormant Accounts Disbursement Board was not at all happy with the changes in the Bill. At no stage did the Minister share with us the reaction he or officials from his Department may have had from members of the present board who have worked diligently in the public interest. There seems to be an implied criticism of their work given the Government decision to remove its disbursement function through this legislation.

We will shortly vote on the Bill and while those on this side of the House will vote against it, the votes lie with the Government and unless something extraordinary happens the Government will succeed. As a democrat I must accept what this House decides. I would like to think that the concerns expressed on this side of the House would prove to be ill founded. As the debate continued the Minister was inclined to confuse his own virtue with the fact that we are legislating not just for him but also for ministers into the future. While I do not believe this legislation reflects the will of the people, until this Chamber decides to change it we will continue where we are.

Whereas I do not ever want to wish that democratically enacted legislation should not work out in the best interests of the public, I cannot avoid feeling that it is a fundamental mistake in terms of its genesis. Some in Government saw this as a huge fund that could be exploited for political purposes, which I believe will happen notwithstanding that we all accept the Minister's sincerity. Ultimately perhaps he is naive. To have a fund of this order available in the run up to a general election represents a mighty big temptation for the parties in power. The Minister's party has never been found wanting when it comes to exploiting what is available to maximise the votes in any election, particularly a general election.

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