Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It is an interesting debate and maybe it divides along who has been in government, as it may change the perspective. Once a person has been in government, perhaps he or she is part of the establishment and in a sense such people may not question that bodies are trying to do the best thing and want to take on responsibility. It is also true in that there is a permanent government, which is part of this debate because we are talking about creating more permanent government, in a sense. That is why one would stand up for the political system.

I was interested in Deputy Ó Broin's comments on this really interesting question. If this just related to an agency looking at policing improprieties, the Deputy's case would be very good in that it should be completely independent. My understanding of what is proposed is that it goes beyond that, researching a range of what is sustainable development, as well as education matters and policy-oriented aspects. This may swing the argument and indicate that in the end it should be a political call, and this is why one might give the Minister the final say. Nevertheless, as Deputy Jan O'Sullivan notes, there should be the valuable check that if a Minister goes against the regulator, the matter should be debated here. The process must be absolutely transparent. If some previous Ministers had such a check, they might not have gotten away with some of the colourful and corrupt practices in which they engaged.

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