Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

On Committee Stage I spoke at length on this issue. I wish to reiterate what I stated. Local authority members who have been on the boards of commercial ports have given significant experience to those bodies and make valuable contributions on a regular basis. Their attendance is probably among the highest of all members of those boards. On the board of Waterford Port, Councillor Cunningham representing the city council, Councillor O'Sullivan representing Waterford County Council, and Councillor Dowling representing Kilkenny County Council are excellent members. To lose their expertise would be bad for the port and the port authority.

There is a democratic deficit in what is proposed in this Bill as has happened in other legislation. Excluding members elected by the people themselves is a retrograde step. We have heard considerable lip-service from the people on the other side — I am not specifically talking about Senator O'Donovan. Many other people have enunciated what should be done regarding councillors. They have the opportunity to vote against this part of the Bill and support the amendment. By doing so they will show support for the local authority representatives — the people who elected many of them to this House. It would also give a message to their own party. On numerous occasions I have heard that everything is decided within Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meetings. This is an opportunity for this House and for Fianna Fáil to show they are on the side of councillors. We should not accept this section of the Bill which will exclude elected members. I challenge the Fianna Fáil and Green Party Members in particular to get rid of this section and stop the constant attack on local authority members.

I fully support the amendment as proposed by Senator McCarthy and seconded by Senator Donohoe. It reflects what we discussed on Committee Stage and I am disappointed that the Minister of State has not amended the section. The exclusion of local authority members is not acceptable.