Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I merely wish to place on record my opinion that one of the individuals concerned is a person of high ability. Not only is he a serving local councillor, he is also a barrister. He would have been appointed to the board on the basis of his expertise in respect of property law, etc., which he practises on a daily basis.

I have argued in the past that legislation of this nature which precludes councillors from serving on bodies such as the PRTB is not welcome. In addition, we should not encourage the introduction of legislation which insists that a set number of councillors should serve on particular bodies. Either a person serving in local government possesses the ability to do a particular job or he or she does not. It could be the case that when appointments are being made to bodies such as the PRTB, there are no suitable candidates in the area of local government to take up the relevant positions. It could also be the case that a body such as the PRTB could comprise a large number of local government representatives.

On where the PRTB should go from here, I hope the procedures that allowed the relevant information to pass through the Department and the decision to be made in the way it was will be corrected. There was certainly no intention to abuse or misuse the legislation. We must avoid a repetition of the circumstances that arose in this case or there will be a need to introduce similar legislation in respect of other areas in future.

Perhaps the best way to proceed is to consider this matter in the context of the all-embracing local government Bill that will be forthcoming in the aftermath of the White Paper on local government. The role of local councillors and other representatives on State bodies, etc., should be properly defined and the circumstances in which these individuals may be involved with these bodies should be placed in the context of a better legal framework. If that is done in the near future, I hope we will be able to avoid a recurrence of the circumstances that arose in this instance.

I welcome Members' general support for the Bill. I look forward to the House having the opportunity to consider the local government Bill and engage in a better review of the residential tenancies legislation.