Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The whole scene has changed, and we must have consistency. It was the position until the mid 1990s that harbour authorities represented a broad church of people. In some cases, there were 11 councillors on those boards, among others. Various reports since then have stated that there should not be any councillors or port users. The ports are now commercial State organisations like the Dublin Airport Authority. We in the Department are trying to be consistent. It is a different ball game now and we are trying to bring things into line.

As a compromise, it has been agreed that one ministerial appointment would come from the councils, which is a half-way house between the old——

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