Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I want to make two points, the first of which relates to the member of the authority. The Minister of State is talking about increasing membership of the authority from 15 to 20. I shall not divide the House today on this, but I hoped that 15 people could do the business necessary in this regard. Fine Gael wanted the Department to implement this rather than a regulator. However, this is the one time we need a regulator and a board of 15 people is sufficient. I know the legislation is very complex as regards this, but I hope it will stay at 15, again given the economic climate.

As regards not excluding local authority members, I support that. Some Senators were very anxious to tell councillors throughout the country that this amendment was accepted by the Minister of State, and in fact I had a good deal of representation from local authority members from all over the country. Some of them thought they would automatically be on the board, given the way the letters were drafted. As someone who has come through the local authority system, I make no apology. If local authority members have the qualifications and the professional background required to be on the board, I see no reason they should be excluded. As the Minister of State has said, there is no guarantee that they will be on the board, but they should not be excluded, no more than a High Court judge or anybody else who might be entitled to serve, if he or she has the qualifications.

I was going to divide the House, but I will accept the amendment, while asking the Minister of State to ensure that the board numbers are kept tight. The cost factor must be kept down. We do not want to see another quango getting out of control and not answerable to anybody.

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