David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes, on a human level but what about the endurance of the House? It is not to be applauded on a legislative level. As Senators demonstrated by their comments, the Minister of State showed some signs of physical stress in reading out all this, and one’s heart goes out to her. We have had nearly an hour of the Minister of State. These amendments compose almost the heart of the entire Bill. They account for 22 pages out of 55. That is half the physical number of amendments. This is a huge swathe to take in one gulp. One could not really take it in. With the greatest respect, the Minister of State made a couple of errors in numbering and so on. What can we as ordinary Senators do about this? It is a real difficulty. I sincerely hope that no legislation of this kind will be introduced again ever in the Seanad.

It is very important to consult with people and I welcome the fact that the Bill has been amended in consultation, although not as fully as some of us would like but there is no excuse for the kind of grammatical amendments turning up here two years later and after it has been passed by the Dáil. These should have been spotted straight away. It is a grotesque offence to Seanad Éireann that these kind of drafting errors are sustained in the Bill and have to be addressed at this stage.

I have some comments on the amendments as I followed them. I apologise to Senator Moran if I interrupted her but I was desperately trying to find out exactly where these things fitted in because some do not deal with sections in the Bill or in the amendments.They are all over the place and it is impossible to find out what section is qualifying another. I was trying to figure this out so I could do my job here.

Amendment No. 171 indicates "Subject to the provisions of this section ... a person who has attained the age of 18 years ... may appoint one or more suitable persons" to act as an attorney. What about people under that age? What about somebody who is 17 and a half, for example? Will the Minister of State reassure us that the guardian ad litemwill be called into play for minors? They should certainly have some protection as they are more vulnerable than an adult. We are talking about people who have attained the age of 18 years but what about people who are under 18?

Amendment No. 184 deals with the register of enduring powers and subsection (2) indicates "The Register shall be in such form as the Director considers appropriate." I wonder what that means. Does it mean it should be in a ledger or in a computer? Does it give overwhelming power to the director to say that it can be done whatever way he or she likes? I would have thought that a register of enduring powers of attorney would be a factual matter. It is clear what it should include. I am not sure what it means by "in such form as the Director considers appropriate."

This is an enormous bulk of material to consider and it means that virtually half of the Bill is to be discussed in one go.