Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 31:

In page 27, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following subsection:

"(5) The Authority shall be required to provide an account of the continuing necessity for the subsidiary to remain in being on the expiration of two years from the date of its establishment.".

The Fine Gael Party has over the last number of weeks pointed, correctly, to the explosion in the number of quangos operating in this country. It is not just our party. The Minister's own colleague Deputy Brian Lenihan, now the Minister for Finance, was adept at pointing out that for many of the challenges faced by our country, the default position is to set up an organisation and give it the power to tackle a certain issue. The Minister himself has an admirable track record of tackling difficult issues head-on, playing a role in resolving them, and taking political responsibility for doing so.

This amendment provides that if the DTA sets up a subsidiary organisation to perform a particular task it has the power to do so — I am not seeking to remove that — but it must every two years return to either its own board or the Houses of the Oireachtas to establish whether it is still needed. If it is, it will continue, and if it is not, it will be removed. The background to many of the issues we are facing, which contributes to the necessity of the DTA, is that at least 16 different organisations are already involved in dealing with transport issues within Dublin. The Minister has correctly pointed to the fact that we need to find a way to co-ordinate these, which is why he is introducing this legislation. I am asking that the new DTA act with the same attitude. If it is looking to set up an organisation to deal with integrated ticketing, to pick a topical example, we should ask it to confirm every two years that the organisation is still necessary, ask whether it can perform that role itself, and ensure the organisation is doing the job it is supposed to do and that costs to the taxpayer are recouped if possible.