Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for the clarification on the RTE board. We should just get on and do it in order that it can get clear direction and have a full sized board with all of the expertise it is hoped that will bring.

Deputy McManus has made the point repeatedly about the need for representation of the disability sector. I agree with everything she said in that regard. I suspect our committee will take that into account when we nominate names for the Minister to consider, but the unfortunate aspect is that there will not always be the same relationship between an Oireachtas committee and a Minister. In five or six years' time we could have an entirely different political structure here, never mind political personalities, and we will not have legislation that requires representation of a person from the disability-access sector on the board. That is a missed opportunity. Without being overly prescriptive, the Minister has a reasonably big board to fill and to insist that one of those members would fulfil that role is not unreasonable. I would consider it as being more important than having a precise gender balance on the board. We should take account of gender balance but——

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