Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I cannot speak to the advice the Minister was given directly at the time, but it came late in the drafting process. I am informed that it was around the uncertainty that might be there if a statutory instrument was used. That is why that was not done. We wanted to be certain we could impose what needed to be imposed. It is a large item of legislation involving complex interactions. That would present its own difficulties if we were coming down the road with primary legislation in this regard. This was suggested as the way to ensure that we were able to achieve this. I remember the Deputy made the point on Second Stage and elsewhere about how we bring legislation through the Dáil and the need to do so in an appropriate way. I take that point completely. This is not the ideal situation, but it is something that we felt we needed to do. We took this opportunity to do it.