John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

There is no intention to denigrate the role of any person in public life. The proposed amendments would have the effect of removing the intended prohibition on members of local authorities, as individuals, becoming members of the boards of the authority. It has been argued that there is no express legal impediment to the appointment of members of local authorities but, in this instance, there are good reasons their exclusion should apply.

I understand Senators' concerns that members of local authorities should be allowed sit on boards. Excluding local authority members from acting in or being members of those boards is becoming an established provision of late and is being included in legislation establishing other State agencies. There are several examples of that — the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, the Health Act 2004, the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003, the Taxi Regulation Act 2003 — but I accept that in itself is not an argument for saying local authority members should not sit on the board of the authority. Everybody would agree, however, that public agencies which are established to carry out specific functions must be seen to be in a position to act independently of Government, both local and central, where that applies.

The responsibility of the National Sports Campus Development Authority relates to capital development and its function is one that will impinge on areas that are the responsibility of certain local authorities. For example, the planning authority of Fingal County Council would be directly involved in the development process. In the circumstances, it would not be appropriate that either Members of the Oireachtas or local authority members would sit on the board. We are in an era of transparency and accountability like never before and it is important that the board of the authority be seen to be independent and not perceived as representing any interest group. Indeed, a steering group has been set up at Abbotstown in regard to further developments there. The steering group is engaging largely with the residents and the local authority. In those circumstances, people will understand why I am not anxious to have local authority members included in the board of the authority.

During the course of the debate, Senators questioned whether the debarring from State boards of Members of the Oireachtas and European Parliament and members of local authorities is a reflection of a lack of trust in such people. I repeat that nothing could be further from the truth. My own opinion is that local authority representatives are a fine body of men and women gifted with a great deal of knowledge and expertise who work hard in the public interest for little or no financial reward. I accept that.

I emphasise that the matter at issue here is not one of trust but the avoidance of any conflict of interest or any appearance of board members being selected in the spirit of any kind of political favour. From time to time all members of boards will have difficult decisions to take. It is desirable that such decision making arises from the best interests of the State body involved and that the board members are not conflicted by the need to serve any political interest, irrespective of that interest.

For all the reasons I have outlined I do not in this instance believe it would be good practice to appoint members of local authorities to the authority. It might be best if the Sports Campus Development Authority were removed from the political sphere in so far as that is possible. I have been Minister for sport for four years and one thing I have learned well is that sport and politics do not mix.