Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the waiver. The process of pre-legislative scrutiny is important. It is a process, however, that requires we also bring in witnesses and not just the officials who are briefing us. Then there is the preparation of a report and the laying of it before the Houses. At the end of pre-legislative scrutiny, the Bill still has to go before the Dáil and the Seanad. If we follow that entire process, we run the risk of reaching 12 April when those most economically disadvantaged by Covid, in rent arrears and unable to pay their rent, will lose the protections in place.

We praise officials for their attendance and provision of information to us. Yesterday, those same officials said the 12 July date is a further three-month extension but it can be extended beyond that again if necessary. There is no prohibition on that. We can introduce further legislation to do that. They also said that if we insist on pre-legislative scrutiny, if this Bill were delayed and if we reach 12 April without the legislation in place, then it would be catastrophic.

While I prefer that matters are dealt with in an orderly manner and the committee is given the opportunity to scrutinise legislation, I take up a point made previously that this is not the first version of this Bill. This is an extension of measures which have been in place throughout Covid and the past year.

It is not novel legislation that is before us; it is a reiteration and an extension of what has gone before that takes cognisance of what is going on. Rather than it being scrutinised by the committee, it will be scrutinised by approximately 220 people, supposedly, within the Houses of the Oireachtas and on the floor of the Oireachtas in a timely fashion to ensure the protections are extended to the people who need them most. As such, I support the waiver of pre-legislative scrutiny.