Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Respectfully, I will not disagree with anything the Minister of State said but he avoided the core issue. There will be input at local level and so on. However, he spoke of the chief executive reviewing the governance. The chief executive cannot change what is within the legislation, and the legislation is clearly excluding from the board of MARA anyone who happens to be a member of a local authority. Conversely, it ensures that there will be a chief executive of a city or county council on the board. Senator Ward is correct that the level of skill and qualification of councillors throughout the country is top class. It is not about any councillor being appointed. It is if someone, all else being equal, is able to serve on the board and they are only being excluded because they are a member of a local authority.

I will provide an example. The Minister of State's colleague, Deputy Leddin from Limerick, who is Chairman of the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action, is an engineer who specialises in renewable energy. He is the kind of individual who in normal circumstances would be an excellent appointee to the board of MARA. He is someone who has a deep understanding of many of the areas around renewable energy. If he was to apply and came out on top over all the other candidates, were he was still a member of Limerick City Council, he would be excluded from being considered for appointment. That is wrong. All we seek with this amendment is that the exclusion on that basis be removed.

I do not have a problem with a city or county manager sitting on MARA, but I am sure that the Minister of State will see where the problem lies. I have raised this matter but I have not received guidance on it. It is a fairly minor issue. It is not about someone tugging at the Minister of State's sleeve who says "I am a councillor. Appoint me to the board". This is about ensuring that we get the best people on the board and if one of the best people happens to be a councillor that they will not be excluded. I know the Minister of State is in agreement with us. I ask him to accept the amendment.