Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

Perhaps we should suggest that members of these board be elected rather than selected. Then we would see how many of the experts will want to go on to the board if they must put their names before the people, which we and local authority members must do every five years.

It is a dreadful attack on local authority members. It is an attack on the public who put members on the boards to represent their wishes. The quality of representative from local authorities is as good as if not better than most of those representatives selected, mainly by the Minister. Why should local authority members be singled out as the ones to go rather than others? I do not care what and how often the expert bodies report. Their reports are wrong.

Senator McCarthy suggested local authorities were not consulted by these so-called experts, and he is correct. Local authorities were not asked for an opinion. Why would these so-called experts ask? They might get a sensible response for which they would not be looking that they should have local authority membership on these boards?

Reports can be tilted any way one wants. They will get the answer they want to get. In this case, democracy certainly does not come into it. The membership of those consultative committees will have no interest in local authority members or, indeed, local authorities.