Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senator Paddy Burke, who is a long-serving member of the House. I was a member of the local authority for 12 and a half years, which is a long time. I will wait for the Minister of State because he is having a discussion with his officials. I do not think Senator Paddy Burke is saying that local authority members should automatically be members of the board, but we should not exclude all 949 local authority members purely because they are members of local authorities. They have skills, talents and an ability to get themselves elected. They have many other skills in many professions and some of these could be incredibly relevant. They could be computer programmers, accountants, solicitors or people in various walks of life. It is common practice now in legislation that local authority members are thrown in as not suitable to serve on boards. As soon as they lose their seats, they might be appointed but this will not happen while they are members of local authorities. It would be more appropriate if this were removed. If people are suitable, they are suitable and if they are not, they are not. However, they should not be excluded just because they are members of local authorities.