Sean Barrett (Independent)

He has been there since 2010, unfortunately, so Senator Power will have to accept that situation. Who drew up the merits and objectives of this policy, and what kind of Ireland do they envisage? It is appalling. The essence of education is that there are differing views and we discuss them. Nobody has all the wisdom, yet in this case he does not need to answer to anybody or take part in any discussions because he knows he has the power and everybody else can go away, as it were. It completely contradicts the way in which Ireland projects itself as a country with free debate and free elections. If we bring in any more of these measures I really worry about the future of Irish democracy. These people are paid highly from the public purse. At the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform recently, I supported Deputy Peter Mathews's point that the Central Bank governor is subject to a parliamentary democracy. He came in and eloquently and brilliantly explained the position. He had to be summoned but it was good for the country in that he tried to get the €3.1 billion problem solved by the end of the month. However, it strikes me as bizarre in this day and age to create another post where somebody is not allowed to discuss the merits and objectives of any Government policy. When a country has to be rescued by the IMF, we have to reform the entire governance and see where the faults are. People who sing dumb, as required by this legislation, are no asset to the country. I ask the Minister of State to rethink this matter for Report Stage. Let us have all the debates we want and take the muzzles off.