Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I know this was outlined to us in advance on the previous Stage and I appreciate fully that accountability to the Committee of Public Accounts is an innovation but the Water Advisory Body does more than an appearance or two appearances per year at the Committee of Public Accounts. It is also made up of very different people, including environmental activists and people with expertise in water quality. It seems very strange simply to dissolve the Water Advisory Body, so I will pose a few questions before I decide whether to push this to a vote. What consultation took place with the Water Advisory Body in advance of the tabling of these amendments? Did it make the case to the Minister of State that it should be retained in some shape or form? Does the Minister of State at least accept that the function of the Committee of Public Accounts, particularly in terms of its role in bringing Accounting Officers in front of it versus the Water Advisory Board, is very different and that something could be lost as a result of simply abolishing it rather than changing the relationship between the body and the Water Advisory Body?

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