Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I do not want to be in any way dismissive of the rules committees because their members are mainly volunteers and they work hard. However, sometimes there are areas where the Minister should have the power of initiative, as opposed to waiting until something is done and then signing off on it. This is one of those cases. I do not want to make any broader observations on the rules committees. However, it was considered sensible that in this particular area the Minister should have a separate power of initiative.