Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that. I will speak to amendments Nos. 7 and 8. The rationale behind amendment No. 7 is that it seeks to delete the following section, which states that nothing in this subsection shall be construed as requiring the controller to include information, the inclusion of which would in the opinion of the controller be likely to prejudice the performance of the controller's functions under this Act. We believe that all records should be kept in the interests of accountability and transparency.

The rationale behind amendment No. 8 is that it is in the interests of accountability and transparency to have not just the applications but the name of applicants so that one can see the consistent points. I agree with much of what Senator Nash said. For many years there have been calls to incentivise research and development and it is something we can do better on this island but we just need to make sure that the appropriate checks and balances are in place.

With all respect to Senator Reilly, we know that tax incentives have been introduced, for example, one need only think of the oil and gas off the coast and some of the vulture capitalists who availed of opportunities in this city that have been closed down. One must be very cautious about introducing incentives and make sure all the checks and balances are in place. We must strike a balance between incentivising people to create jobs in the area of research and development but we must have the appropriate checks and balances in the public interest, considering the number of debacles we have had in this State in the past.