Michael McCarthy (Labour)

As previously stated, this section has appeared in other Bills. However, it appears to me and others in this House as an affront to accountability and transparency. Why does this Bill state the director general shall not question or express an opinion? That is an affront to democracy. I do not accept the Minister's response or what the Government Senators have just said. We are passionate in the strong convictions we have on this issue. What would happen if, for example, the Minister, in the opinion of the director general, was doing something that was not right and if the director general, who, I presume, will be appropriately qualified and be very expert, was not able to question or express an opinion before a committee of Dáil Éireann, which has to be the Committee of Public Accounts in relation to the appropriation accounts? It is outlandish and disgraceful.