Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister and thank him for his contribution. Our party is supportive of this legislation. I have reviewed it and will outline five areas where it could be improved and on which I will seek a response from the Minister.

The nub of this legislation is to provide for expanding the scope of power of the commission from downstream to upstream activity. That is being done for two reasons, first, to improve the efficiency and operation of the regulatory regime within which this type of activity takes place and, second - this is as important as the first reason - to improve the transparency of the operation of the regime and public confidence in the way it operates in granting licences to various companies.

Under the heading of the need to increase security and transparency in the sector, I invite the Minister to respond to comments made during the week regarding the appointment of a new commissioner to this body. This point is very relevant to how this body will operate. Comments have been made that a person has been appointed to be one of the two commissioners of this body.