Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

All our business is done in public, and certainly when one is not an officeholder, one is assumed to be a "politically exposed person" requiring this special treatment when those people who have huge discretionary powers - county managers, members of An Bord Pleanála and planning officials - have far more day-to-day power and far more potential to abuse that power than being a Member for Trinity College and the National University of Ireland in this establishment or whatever, so I do empathise with Senator Norris in that respect.

Those regulations were made without any input from this House because it is part of the same old malaise. We do not ever have any foresight as to what is coming at us from Europe.