Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Ryan for bringing a particular matter to my attention, and my officials have done some work on it. I hope what we have done will be to the Senator's satisfaction. Some of the amendments brought in are minor, but one is substantial and came about as a result of what Senator Ryan highlighted.

I thank the House for the opportunity to make these amendments. Before I go on to deal with the individual amendments, it should be explained that they all deal with section 20 of the Bill. This section disqualifies persons who are Members of the Seanad, Dáil or the European Parliament, or a local authority, from being members of the council, forum or centre. It also requires that members of these bodies who become public representatives must cease such membership on being elected or nominated.

An exception must be made in the case of the forum, as section 15(3) of the Bill requires that 15 members of the forum shall be Members of either Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann, and also that between three and five must be representatives of the local government system. That exception is contained in subsection (2) in the case of persons already Members of one of these bodies and in the new subsection (5) in the case where a person is being nominated for membership.

With regard to the individual amendments, amendment No. 4a proposes a small but important change to section 20(2)(a). This subsection makes an exception in the case of the forum to the requirement contained in section 20(1) that a member of the council, forum or centre who becomes a public representative must cease to be such a member. The amendment in question is required to include Senators who are nominated, in addition to those who are elected. That is relatively straightforward.

The purpose of amendment No. 4c is to delete the words "member or" from subsection (4). The Parliamentary Counsel has advised that these words are superfluous.

Amendment No. 4d is required to refer subsection (4) to a proposed new subsection (5). This is the more substantial amendment. This new subsection is proposed in amendment No. 4e. The proposed new subsection makes an exception for persons who are for the time being entitled to sit in either House of the Oireachtas, and to whom section 15(3)(a) applies, from being disqualified from membership of the forum. This is an important amendment, as otherwise there would be a contradiction in the Bill between section 15(3), which defines the composition of the forum and requires that 15 members of the forum shall be Members of Dáil Éireann or the Seanad, and section 24, which would otherwise disqualify elected Members from membership of the forum.

I again thank Senator Ryan for bringing the matter to my attention. I am bringing forward a comprehensive amendment to resolve the issue. In addition to Senator Ryan, I thank Senators O'Meara, McDowell, Tuffy and McCarthy for tabling their amendment. I hope they will withdraw the amendment in light of my comprehensive amendment.