Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Okay. I will speak about the forum. Its membership will comprise of a minimum of 12 and can range to 60. I am a member of a number of voluntary companies limited by guarantee and the membership of all of them is a maximum of 11 and a minimum of seven. Why are 60 people required on this forum and who will they be? The point I have made about the forum is that it will not listen.

I am involved with an organisation that has made a High Court challenge on the abolition of the town councils. We believe they were abolished contrary to the Constitution and that was signed into law on 27 January 2014. We are dismantling democracy and setting up forums. This should be the democratic accountable House for all of this and where we should be talking about it, rather than it being talked about at some forum by people who are supposed to be appointed by the Commission for Energy Regulation, but from which the Minister has taken the power to set prices. Therefore, I am sure he will take this power from it as well because this power could be handy to put in people who are friendly and favourably disposed toward this, and I will not say any more on that.

The forum is a sop to make it look as if we have an accountable body, and maybe it can shift some of the blame on to it. The forum will be toothless and will not have any say. We do not know the type of people who will on it, what they will be doing or what they will have to do. Specifically, sticking to the point the Ceann Comhairle asked me to speak to, the forum is a nonsense because it will not have anything to do. The Minister is going to meet the representative associations after the whole thing is passed. That shows that the cart is being put before the horse. It is bad legislation. It was rushed through here last year and look where we are now. As Deputy Cowen said, there will be an inquiry into this sooner rather than later, and then we will all say why did we not listen, why did we not do something and were we a part of that at the time.

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