Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

Yes. With regard to its composition and who can be a non-executive member, all such legislation appears to carry a standard provision, inserted by the bureaucracy, providing for the exclusion of Members of the Oireachtas from being considered for membership of boards. I object to that. It is not that I have an interest in being a member but I believe there are certain circumstances where Members of the Oireachtas, appointed in an open and transparent fashion, could offer a considered viewpoint to some of these bodies. Subsection (9) provides that a person ceases to be a non-executive member when he is nominated as a Member of Seanad Éireann. Who has contributed so much in terms of thoughtful analysis and proposals for the development of the Garda Síochána and contributed so significantly to Northern Ireland as Senator Maurice Hayes? We are providing in legislation that even if we wanted him to be appointed a member of this board, we cannot.

I will not make a great deal of the matter. To enable us to proceed to other provisions of the Bill, I will support these sections.

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