Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. I might propose an amendment to the proposed new section 58D(4) of the 1991 Act, which provides that "the period of a registration shall be 3 years from the date of registration", because I feel that such a period of time could be too long. In the case of the proposed new section 58D(8), which states that "the Agency shall attach a condition to a registration", I feel that the agency should be able to attach "conditions" rather than "a condition" to the registration. I wonder why a timeframe of "within the 12 months preceding the date on which registration or removal from the register would take effect" is being stipulated in the proposed new section 58D(9)(c). What happens if it is found that there was an incident prior to the 12-month period in question? I will propose an amendment in that regard. I feel that the proposed new section 58H, which states that "the Agency shall cause to be visited from time to time each prescribed early years service in order to ensure that the person carrying on the service is complying with this Part", is very loosely worded. It could lead to services not being visited over a protracted period of time. One would hope that would not happen, but I suggest that it could happen under this new section. I think we should stipulate that visits should happen annually or biannually. I intend to propose amendments in these areas on Report Stage. We can discuss them further at that time.