Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

What the Minister is attempting to do in this amendment does not address the points Deputy McManus is making in her amendment No. 7 and that I am trying to make in my amendment No. 8. We propose that the Oireachtas joint committee will have a say on the make-up of the board of the IFI but that we will have no say in the make-up of the inland fisheries forum, which is where most of the stakeholders and interested parties involved in the inland fisheries will have their say.

Deputy McManus is not seeking much in her amendment No. 7. She proposes that the Minister would be required to consult the Oireachtas committee. She does not propose that the Oireachtas committee will make the decision but that before the Minister approves the make-up of a stakeholders forum he would consult the Oireachtas committee to get views to help him ensure that the approved stakeholders forum is balanced and that it represents the interests of all of the relevant parties.

When we have gone to the trouble of trying to ensure there is Oireachtas input in the choosing of board members, it is not consistent to then make the case that it would be too complex a structure or may delay the process to simply consult the Oireachtas joint committee on the forum. I welcome the wording that "This forum shall consist of broad representation across such stakeholders of the inland fisheries sector as IFI considers relevant" but there is not any safeguard or opportunity for members of the all-party Oireachtas committee to give an input or raise concerns. While my amendment is somewhat more limited, it is more directly to the point and would have the net effect Deputy McManus is trying to achieve in her amendment. They make better law than what the Minister proposes.

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