Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators. I should single out Senator Quinn, who, to be fair, put a lot of work into devising a piece of legislation. While there were some unintended consequences of the way it was formulated which we felt unable to accept at the time, we have, I believe, caught the spirit of what he intended and done it in a way that our own legal advisers are happy with.

I join with the Senators in thanking our staff who are here with us. This is a difficult area and one which I believe suffered from the lack of a proper, codified piece of legislation. To codify it took a lot of work. Obviously, in the current environment, following a number of court rulings, one has to be more careful to have proper primary legislation where the policies and principles are approved by the House. That is as it should be, but it obviously means a lot more work for officials in putting together legislation that cannot be rethought at regulation stage.

What it does is provide us with a modern piece of legislation, which, as Senator Mullins said, provides for a good environment and proper respect for people who come here to work, but also provides the economy with a way of meeting its needs in a way that is flexible and responds to opportunities. The world is changing and we are becoming a much more global society.

Many sectors require people from different backgrounds, with different languages and experiences in order to be vibrant and successful. We must respond to these changing conditions with modern legislation.

I thank Senators for their support for and co-operation in dealing with the Bill.