Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to make one more comment, if I may. It will be the function of the director general of the newly-merged organisation to arrange the distribution of the business of the agency among its directors, but this must be done having regard to the statutory functions and requirements of the organisation.

Accordingly, it would not be appropriate or desirable for legislation to prescribe the divisional organisation of the EPA, or to confer one of the offices with a more pre-eminent or differentiated role. Nonetheless, the board, including the director, will have to continue to ensure that sufficient resources and effort are being made to meet all of the merged bodies' functions which include, specifically, the director of radiological protection.

It is clear to me, from my reading of it, that the director general must appoint five directors, one of whom will have to be fully knowledgeable in this area. I cannot envisage a situation where that would not be the director of that section.