Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We know what direct negotiation is but when we are drafting law we put in the words "direct negotiations" and then we define the term for the purposes of the Bill. For the purpose of the Bill, direct negotiations, as the Minister of State has outlined it, is not what is stated in the Bill. It is not stipulated in the Bill that what he has referred to is what direct negotiations involve. It actually states that it includes negotiations involving in whole or in part the services of a solicitor or counsel. It says nothing else.