Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will not persuade the Minister so I am happy to withdraw the amendment noting the point has been made. There is no question that a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation is being created here today. The Government should redouble its efforts to close down unnecessary quangos, non-governmental bodies and regulators.

I hope the person who will become the regulator reads this debate and the expertise and research which has been done on regulatory capture, finds out what it is and commits to not being captured. Most regulators get captured in some way. It is usually benign and not malign or corrupt, but regulators can acquire too much knowledge of the industry and sometimes forget the consumers and the public interest and see everything from the point of view of the industry they regulate. I am concerned about this and I hope the regulator, whoever he or she is, does not fall into this trap. In my view it is more likely than not that he or she will. I will withdraw all of the amendments subsequent to this one.