Mr. John Farrelly:

No, we have considered this in detail for a long time. This is quite reforming legislation if one looks at the language. I urge the committee to view it in that context. It is strongly reforming legislation. While we have a number of issues, on balance it is a really strong piece of legislation that for the first time brings the voice of people into the legislation.

There is another point on which we should be careful. The law cannot stop shoddy governance or people not implementing legislation. Once the law is in place, it should be implemented. It should not be an optional extra for big providers such as the HSE for example. In fairness to the Oireachtas, the Minister and the Department, this is a very good piece of legislation. What we have to do then is make sure we do not confuse it with providers not implementing it. As a regulator, we will make sure that it is implemented.