Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It is not that people always agree with a regulator, but the one thing they need to have is trust that it is independent. What is done to achieve this is avoiding conflicts. A regulator is not picked that will be put in harm's way in terms of conflicts, but that is what will happen here. Fingal County Council is one of the better local authorities in many respects, but the Minister will create a situation where, on the one hand, it will make a decision in dealing with one set of issues and, on the other, he will pretty much ask it to regulate itself in dealing with some of the matters on which it will have to adjudicate. How can that possibly help to build trust? If people do not have trust, we will run into difficulty. Of all people the Minister understands this because he has talked for long enough about independence and regulation, not necessarily in the sense of this issue, but he understands the points and is defending the indefensible.

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