Pat Moylan (Fianna Fail)

I have seen a case in the past where legislation was changed. This may be the thin end of the wedge. We are referring to local authority members elected by the people. Anybody who is elected by the people to serve should not be debarred from membership of a board. That is my personal opinion. When it comes to voting I have to listen to what the Minister of State has said. I had to immediately resign my position as a member of a board of Aer Rianta when I got a nomination to stand for the Seanad, not when I was elected to it. The secretary of the board was legally obliged to check the date I got the nomination to ascertain whether I had participated at any time at any board meeting. At the time I felt that was wrong. I could understand that when elected to the Oireachtas one would have to step down. I see similarities here. There are highly-qualified members of local authorities who should be allowed to serve on a board such as this. There are some other boards on which local authority members serve. The fear of some local authority members who contact us is that in future they will be debarred from serving on a board.