Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I said, although this is not my legislation, I do have an obligation to make sure we get it right, particularly given the construction of the Dáil and the Seanad. That is why the Government is providing both advice and legal expertise. I hope we will not have a situation where I will be appealing to other parties not to support legislation on Report Stage on the back of the Attorney General's advice. That is the conversation we have been forced to have, for example, on the legislation dealing with rental changes and so on. I want to be in a position to support this legislation. That is why at an early stage, at pre-legislative scrutiny stage or before Committee Stage, I hope we will have clarity on the changes of wording needed in order that we can move on quickly. Despite the frustration of some committee members, I am not in a position to provide that clarity today, but we are anxious to follow through on the commitment we made and I think I have done so. I am afraid I am not operating to the Deputies' timeline but to that of the Attorney General's office. There has been no shortage of demands on her office in the past six months in a series of areas, not least water services. The matter is with her office. This is legislation into which the Government needs to have an input. We have agreed to use Deputy Joan Collins' Bill as the basis. We could have introduced a separate Bill, but she asked us not to do so and I supported the adoption of that approach. If I was introducing my own legislation and we were at pre-legislative scrutiny stage, I still would not have the advice. We would not be introducing legislation this early. I am afraid we are just going to have to work through the process.