Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

This is not my area of expertise but I had a strong view on the whether the Irish Glass Bottle Company should have been closed and the site sold in the first place. It was a regressive step. We have no glass recycling facility within the 26 counties and given that oil prices will increase over the next number of years, such an indigenous industry would have served us well. I do not know whether a facility will be resurrected on another site but we would not have experienced this scandalous waste of resources and overspending if the bottle company had been funded properly and appropriate measures put in place to ensure recycling took pride of place in the State. For example, the Green Party has called for years for refundable deposits on bottle and cans but this has been thwarted by the Repak establishment. If glass bottles were refundable, we would have an industry providing jobs during the economic downturn.

We know where we are regarding the site. I am cynical and biased about the activities of the developers and decisions makers involved over the past number of years. I do not know whether we believe Mr. Maloney or Mr. McNamara regarding who said what. When everything emerges, it will not look good and I suspect dodgy dealings have taken place, highlighting at the very least cronyism and back slapping in the old boy's club.

This is not the time to introduce this legislation, worthy as it is. The Minister stated recently that he appointed Professor Brennan, who is an expert in corporate governance matters. She has been charged with producing reports on corporate governance within the authority and we should wait and see. It is the role of the Ministers for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Finance to ensure that the authority acts in a prudent and proper way. However, the proposal to bring the authority within the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General has wider implications for other State bodies and since the DDDA does not receive at least 50% of its annual funding from the Exchequer, it cannot come under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General. The Minister stated it is to necessary or relevant to bring in the Comptroller and Auditor General.

I am confident that the authority's financial affairs will be managed in a more prudent manner with the oversight of Professor Brennan. That does not mean we will cast everything that took place into the dark recesses. Professor Brennan is competent and capable and she will not be influenced by the back slapping and cronyism of the past. I am confident that information will come to light and that the Minister will act in a decisive, appropriate and timely fashion. It is not time now, however, to seek that information through this legislation. It is up to the chairman to make a report. I have full confidence in her and that the Minister acted prudently and decisively regarding her appointment. It is too soon to tell but I hope a report is published soon and we can debate the issue further in the House in the near future.

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