Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The explanation I gave earlier is quite important. This is based in company law and, for the life of me, I cannot understand why the Deputy would look to remove the ability of the Minister to make a decision before a due diligence process was complete. There is a key and fundamental difference within company law between transferring an entity into a local authority and allowing it to remain as a company versus integrating it completely. I am sorry I did not have an opportunity to make this point earlier because the amendment was put to a vote, but for the Deputy to say that, before the due diligence process is complete, he wants to remove the ability of the Minister to decide how integration would happen flies in the face of some of the earlier points he made to me about the need for financial sustainability and to understand what was going on in ports and harbours all over the country.

There is a fundamental difference between an entity which is a company and one which is not. The Deputy does not want to get into a broader ideological debate, but I am happy to do so if the Acting Chairman will allow it.

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