Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I do not disagree with the Senator, but the section as it stands does not preclude me or my successor from deciding to select a member of the advisory council from one of those consumer groups. I want to be as non-prescriptive as possible with regard to the people who will be selected for the advisory council. I want them to have expertise and to focus mainly on strategic directions. They will have a significant contribution to make to the development of the authority, the overall transport strategy, the integrated implementation plan and the strategic traffic management plan, none of which impinge directly on their rights as consumers.

I would not rule out people from the statutory consumer agencies or some members of NGOs in the area from being on the board. If one specifies particular groups, even if not by specific names, someone asks why one does not include other groups, the GEA, the ICA or whatever other group. I would prefer to leave it as open as it is for those two reasons, because when one names individual groups, people begin to ask why others were excluded, which I would not want to do, and because I will focus on people who can make a significant contribution to the development of the strategy, implementation plan and traffic management plan. Senator Donohoe has had a very good run on his amendments and I ask him not to press this one.