Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

As I suppose everything in politics is about compromise, we will have to agree with the Minister of State. I will, therefore, withdraw my amendment. I am glad the Minister of State has taken on board the fact that there is no need to discriminate against those who are elected to a local authority. I can see why the insertion of such a provision can be irritating to those elected as county councillors. As a profession, politics has been subject to a fair degree of scrutiny and negative commentary recently. In some respects, inserting such a provision in the legislation almost confirms the argument that there is something wrong with entering political life. I am glad, therefore, that the Minister of State proposes to delete paragraph (e) which might start the rehabilitation process for all politicians in society. There is a need to have a serious debate on the role of politics because all politicians are coming under sustained attack, although much of it is unreasonable and unbalanced. We should avoid inserting such a provision in legislation, as it only confirms the negative ideas often cited against politicians.