Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This is a pre-legislative exercise. If we were in the business of dealing with legislation, the Minister would be present. That would happen on Committee Stage, for example, in order to tease out issues. In fairness to Mr. Johnson, he made it clear that the witnesses came to set out their views and position. We do not have a Minister present and we have not called on anybody to give the official view. The committee will not be making a determination between different views. We are affording an opportunity to the various bodies to say what they wish and answer questions, and we will communicate this to the Minister. It is an important distinction.