Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I look forward to the introduction of the legislation. It is important that the House and the members of the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government get to see the legislation in order that we might discover what powers the Minister intends to give to the agency and how it will operate. It is not appropriate that Deputies should read in newspapers the views of staff within the LDA on how they believe it will operate. If the agency is to be established properly under legislation, it will have to be done quickly. There are political cycles and different Governments may have different ideas about this very approach.

Is it the Minister's intention that the LDA will, under the legislation to be published, be subject to the Regulation of Lobbying Act? What is the current head count versus the optimal staffing level in the agency?

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