Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I do not accept what the Senators have said and I reiterate my view. Representatives of the Combat Poverty Agency and other bodies do make comments publicly, regardless of the legislation, which does not prevent them from doing so. It will be the same with this. I have been in the Oireachtas for nearly 16 years so I have a good idea of how the committees operate. This provision should act as a protection to the independence of a chief executive in that he should not be obliged to make comments on political matters. Senator Ryan referred to the examination of the president of the Dublin Institute of Technology. That was in relation to the accounts, not Government policy, which is what this legislation deals with.