Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is no facility for it other than that if it is held here. That creates a dilemma for the committee. Getting a private briefing on a Bill is fine; we can get that any time. Pre-legislative scrutiny is a central part of the legislative process and in general it should be done in public. For example, people who will be affected by this Bill will want to know what is involved. We do not have to make any decisions. The decisions are made when the final Bill is published and we have the Second and Committee Stage debates.

I warn members against doing pre-legislative scrutiny privately. I believed there was a facility for us to have virtual meetings that could be broadcast but I was obviously wrong.