Mr. Liam Herrick:

It is fair to say consultation has varied over the period. The first set of regulations were introduced on 7 April and we had significant consultation through the Department of Justice and Equality about the content. That level of engagement has not carried through, however, and part of that is probably due to the volume of work being undertaken by the Department of Health and time pressures. It is far from ideal.

With regard to the most recent proposals for regulations relating to social gatherings in the home, as well as the fact there was no engagement that we are aware of with any organisations in the civil society or human rights sector, the deeper problem is how we are moving from advice in the public health sphere from an expert independent body such as the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, which is communicated relatively clearly, to how the Government considers that while weighing human rights concerns and showing the public that those principles are being considered before engaging with the Oireachtas around that. None of that happened in this case. If there had been consultation with the Oireachtas or human rights organisations, the obvious difficulties with that proposal could have been identified and we all could have been of assistance to the Government in plotting a better course.