Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

I concur with Senator Ryan. The Minister summed up his own stand on this issue in seeking the allocation and disbursement of money to be done on a transparent basis. We are all in the game of protecting ourselves and not putting ourselves in a compromising position. The Minister should not put himself in a compromising position. He should delegate the task of appointments to somebody else, be it the head of CDBs or certain partnerships, agencies or whatever. This wording will put the Minister in a compromising position. Discretion does not come into the question of accountability and transparency and the Minister would be putting himself into a dangerous position if this is included.