Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

Deputy O'Dowd referred to the position of MEPs elected in June. I have noted his points and will come back to what he said but I do not share the views he put forward. The Standards in Public Office Commission, the body charged by the Oireachtas with administering and implementing the regulations, has brought to attention an anomaly which is being corrected.

I stress again the Government's view that the constituency commission's recommendations are a package. They must be accepted or rejected in their entirety. If we are to be serious about politics, we cannot adopt an À la carte approach. The Government has decided, as previous Governments have decided, to follow the established practice of implementing in full the recommendations of an independent commission. I thank Deputies for their contributions and look forward to further debate on Committee Stage.

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