Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I will try to be brief, given the 100 seconds I have to speak. I would welcome a longer debate so we could discuss the merits and demerits of the range of proposals that are being considered. I am not a supporter of keeping the system as it is currently. While local knowledge has worked well, other aspects of it have not been so successful. I refer to cronyism and poor management of the current structures. We need to change.

In his presentation, the Minister of State emphasised several times that he is not centralising anything which makes me think he is centralising something because he would not be denying it so strongly if he were not. Clearly, there is a certain amount of centralisation of powers about which my party is concerned. We believe in decentralisation in a real sense rather than the Government allocation of Departments around the country. We are concerned in that regard about the nature of the centralisation that may result from the proposed changes. However, I welcome certain changes such as the lack of duplication in the marine research area. It may be appropriate to have certain areas of strength. There are only so many people in the country with real scientific expertise in this area and perhaps it makes sense to pool those resources. That is a debate for another day.

Ensuring that we keep in office the same elected people is a poor start to the process. On that basis I am opposed to the motion. I look forward to a debate on the wider issue.

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