Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The proposed amendment would change the provisions relating to the membership of the regulatory authority to provide that the Minister for Finance may designate the Director of Consumer Affairs as an official member of the authority. I am glad to advise the Senator that the Bill already allows for this possibility. The proposed new section 33E(2) of the principal Act as inserted by section 26 of the Bill provides that the Minister may, instead of appointing a person to be a member of the regulatory authority, designate the holder of a specified office as an official member of the authority. That power, although stated in more abstract language, is already conferred on the Minister in the Bill. The Director of Consumer Affairs is the holder of a specified office within the meaning of the Bill and the current wording of subsection (2) leaves it open to the Minister to appoint the director as an official member of the regulatory authority. In the circumstances, the proposed amendment is superfluous as its purpose is already comprehended by the legislation and there is no difficulty about designating the Director of Consumer Affairs as a member of the regulatory authority. It is permitted under the legislation. On that purely technical issue, I oppose the amendment.