Martin Brady (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State and his officials, Mr. Devlin and Mr. Greene. As the Minister of State has said, this legislation was introduced after concerns, some of which were mentioned in his opening remarks, were expressed by the Office of the Attorney General. I agree with Senator Coffey's remarks about the purpose of the Bill which is to confirm orders made under section 3 of the Local Government Services (Corporate Bodies) Act 1971 in respect of bodies established under that Act. The bodies concerned are the Local Government Computer Services Board, the Dublin Transportation Office, the Local Government Management Services Board, the Affordable Homes Partnership, Irish Water Safety, the Limerick Northside Regeneration Agency and the Limerick Southside Regeneration Agency.

Senator Coffey made some important points about the various bodies. The two Limerick regeneration agencies are the only two bodies on the list whose functions I am familiar with. We do not receive progress reports about any of the other organisations. I congratulate the former Dublin city manager, Mr. John Fitzgerald, who is doing an excellent job in Limerick. I wish him all the best in his endeavours. He tends to achieve 100% success in everything he tackles. I congratulate the Franciscan priests and brothers who are doing an excellent job in certain parts of Limerick. I have read a lot about them. I hope to visit them at some stage to see how they are getting on. The work being done as part of the Limerick regeneration projects represents one of this country's success stories.

I agree with Senator Coffey's remarks about many of the bodies covered in this legislation. Like many people, I do not know what they do. We need to establish whether the continued existence of such organisations is of any value to society. Could they be amalgamated so that they function in a more meaningful manner? I agree with Senator Coffey that the Minister of State should examine this matter. Perhaps we should ask representatives of these agencies to attend a joint committee meeting. If they play an important role which we do not know about, it would be no harm for us to investigate it and learn about it. The Bill amends the establishment orders for the Limerick regeneration agencies to provide for two extra members to be appointed to each agency board and to clarify the areas covered by the agencies.

The Minister of State has explained to the House the purpose of each section of the Bill. There is no need for me to repeat what he has said. I thank him for his explanation of the legislation. I commend the Bill to the House. I thank Senator Coffey for his valuable contribution. I was thinking along the same lines myself.