Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

They are among the reasons. There is a real cost to doing this.

Asking people who avail of a service to contribute to its cost is a principle that I do not disagree with. If we were in the time when, as a Tánaiste of long ago described it, the country was awash with money, we might have a different focus. As of now, we are required to charge for a variety of services, many of which I would like to see to delivered free, but it is reasonable to maintain that principle.

Much was made of my comment about managing the process. That is done to ensure that the service we provide and the expanded requirement that is implicit in the legislation is delivered and that we are not being tokenistic by providing a legislative base for a service that we do not have the resources to provide. In essence, when the legislation is enacted I want to provide the service that we have promised in it.