Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

Section 12 prohibits Members of the Oireachtas, the European Parliament or local authorities from membership of the board. This is now a standard provision in legislation establishing a public body. Similar provisions apply to the board members of Forfás, IDA and Enterprise Ireland under the Industrial Development Act 1993 and the Industrial Development (Enterprise Ireland) Act 1998.

It is important that people who deal with the agencies and ask whether matters are conducted on a political basis know the decisions of our industrial development agencies to grant substantial amounts of taxpayers' moneys are made on a purely independent basis and there is no taint of party or independent politics attached. It is a difficult position for a politician to be in, therefore it is better to exclude not just Members of the Oireachtas but also members of local authorities. It would be wrong to include one category of politician and exclude another; politicians at local and national level should be treated equally as far as the foundation is concerned. While I appreciate there are some boards on which this provision may not be appropriate, I feel it is appropriate where the dispensing of research grants is involved.