Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairperson. The Minister is very welcome. I will be brief. I concur with Senator Craughwell's comments. I served on a local authority for a long number of years and know that there is a wealth of experience among local authority members. They are the people who are on the ground every day of the week. They can feed into this in terms of providing an insight into the views of the people on the ground. For many years we have had local representatives on various bodies, including regional technical colleges, or RTCs as they once were known, and the institutes of technology, ITs, and they can do nothing only add to the work involved here. I support Senator Craughwell's argument that they should be named in the legislation and not just covered by the term "other body". There are over 900 local authority members who were elected by the people to put forward their views. Amendment No. 76 is an ideal way of including them.