Seanad debates
Wednesday, 20 November 2002
Digital Hub Development Agency Bill, 2002: Committee Stage (Resumed).
As I said on the previous occasion we discussed the Committee Stage of this Bill, there has been substantial consultation with the local community groups. Senator Quinn is right, this is a major national project and has ramifications for us in the future, but it is also a particular local initiative and the local authority members from that locality may need to be on sub-committees of the board, etc. I would not like to exclude them nor would I like to see a total imbalance on the board in relation to local authority members because that would cause a difficulty. I appreciate there is a tendency to keep political balance when local authorities are involved and that could also cause a problem. I would rather follow the precedent that exists in the Dublin Docklands Development Act and not exclude local representation. I believe that is a good model.
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