Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

These are all Deputy Sean Fleming's amendments addressing issues that were debated on Committee Stage. I have not changed my mind on the Office of the President as the tradition that the President is above politics and outside the fray is accepted. I considered the amendment but will not accept it.

Amendments Nos. 21 and 105 relate to Tourism Ireland while amendment No. 103 relates to the Food Safety Promotion Board. Amendment No. 106 applies to Waterways Ireland. Tourism Ireland, the Food Safety Promotion Board and Waterways Ireland were established under the British-Irish Agreement of 1999 and were given statutory effect in the British-Irish Agreement Act 1999. Tourism Ireland was established separately under the framework of the British-Irish Agreement. These bodies all operate under a code of practice on access to information that has been approved by the North-South Ministerial Council. The code is based on the FOI legislation in both Ireland and the UK and its primary objective is to facilitate public access to information held by these bodies. There is an administrative arrangement analogous to FOI for these bodies.

Regarding amendment No. 23, concerning whether receivers and administrators appointed by NAMA or another secured lender fall outside the definition of a public body as set out in section 6 of the Bill, the receiver or administrator is an independent legal officer appointed to take control of and realise the assets secured by a loan. The receiver or administrator acts as the legal agent of and for the benefit of the borrower and not the lender or secured creditor. The receiver or administrator's costs are borne by the receivership and not by the lender. Accordingly, I am advised it would not be appropriate to define receivers and administrators as public bodies and, therefore, the amendment is not accepted.

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