Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

The difficulty with that is that I have met the National Transport Authority on this issue. The National Transport Authority was set up at the start of this year by the Minister. It is the obvious office to deal with regulating this industry. All transport matters are being amalgamated into the National Transport Authority and it has said it sees no reason the National Transport Authority would not have the capacity to act as a regulator and to provide an appeals mechanism for consumers who believe they have been abused by clampers. It is the obvious Ministry to deal with this issue and to have the Minister for Transport who oversees the National Transport Authority to introduce the legislation. If he is not the suitable Minister he certainly has the responsibility to ensure that an appropriate Cabinet colleague would attempt to bring forward the appropriate legislation. The "do nothing" approach ignores the fact that we have a segment within the traffic management industry that is unregulated and is abusing that position. Does the Minister find that acceptable?

See this speech in context