Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

We raised the issue of excluding members of the European Parliament and the Houses of the Oireachtas from being on the board, which is generally acceptable, with the Minister for Health, but members of local authorities are also excluded.

If a midwife or nurse has been recommended and he or she is a member of a local authority he or she would not be allowed to sit on the board according to the Bill. The Minister gave an undertaking in this House that he would amend the Bill and ensure it would not prohibit members of local authorities from being members of the board. This type of approach has been taken by previous Governments. The Civil Service seems to be focused on ensuring that when a person becomes a member of a local authority he or she is not a qualified or proper person to serve on the board. It is grossly unfair. Such persons would not have a right to be on boards. We are talking about fully qualified nurses or midwives who are appointed to a board and who subsequently seek election to their local authority. Such persons, by virtue of their being elected to serve the people of their area, as the Minister of State did in the past, are prohibited from serving on these boards. The Minister, Deputy Reilly, gave a specific commitment in this regard. The same officials who are in attendance today were in the Chamber on that occasion. The Minister clearly indicated that the relevant change would be made to the Bill, but I do not see any such amendment. Therefore, I will oppose this section unless the Minister of State offers a commitment that the amendment will be made on Report Stage.