Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand from where Senator Walsh is coming and how local authority members, that is, elected representatives on the councils are people one can trust. However, in this section of the Bill I believe the Minister also is trying to protect them from perhaps being accused of having a conflict of interest. It is better, therefore, to have this provision in legislation in order that they are protected. While I understand the Senator's perspective, the Minister is doing the right thing in this regard. He is trying to protect local authority members from being accused of having a conflict of interest. As Members have witnessed the controversy over the past ten days about councillors getting into situations, it is important that the Minister should protect councillors in this way.