Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We debated this issue at some length on Committee Stage. These amendments seek to remove the auditing requirements for qualifying Independent Members alone. They seek that those Independent Members in receipt of the parliamentary allowance would not, like the parties, have to comply with the auditing requirements. As I said on Second Stage, and repeated on Committee Stage, in the current climate and with the increased scrutiny on all public expenditure, it is not acceptable that Independent Members who receive funding should not be held accountable in the same way.