Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator Higgins. Sometimes there is a propensity in legislation to overly prescribe the make-up of these boards, but the points she has made are valid ones. The Minister may not be inclined to accept an amendment that would further prescribe the make-up of the board. There may also be room to amend the section in the original Act that prescribes the skill sets of the board members. It could be left up to the Minister of the day and we could trust to his or her discretion who would be the right person to fill the position on the board. I say that in the context of what I said in my Second Stage speech about focusing more on energy reserves than specifically oil reserves, because I understand that Act was brought in at a particular time. Going forward, perhaps we could have more room for manoeuvre for the Minister of the day.