Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

This group of amendments relates to the membership of the authority and the advisory council. With regard to the authority, the Bill always provided for a chairperson and nine members and that remains the case. On Committee Stage in the Seanad, the bar on local authority members serving on the Dublin transport authority was discussed. This bar was subsequently removed by amendments. A further amendment, which reduces the number of DTA executives on the authority from three to two, has also been made. This will allow the Minister for Transport to appoint six ordinary members of the authority in addition to the chairperson.

The advisory council has been increased in size from 12 to 23 members, plus a chairperson. There will be a member from each local authority in the greater Dublin area, GDA — a development which was sought by Members in this House — in addition to a member from each of the two regional authorities. This means there will be a total of nine public representatives on the Dublin transport authority. The amendments also provide for two Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, nominees, two business representatives, two representatives concerned with the promotion of the general interests of communities in the GDA and four representatives of the public interest, including the interests of people with disabilities.

These are the major changes that have been introduced in respect of the membership of the Dublin transport authority and the advisory council. They go a long way towards meeting the concerns expressed in this and the Lower House.