David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In responding to some questions, the Minister accepted the complexity of this issue. It was quite obvious from our deliberations that An Garda Síochána had some concerns about this Bill even as a concept fairly early on.

There was engagement with the Office of the Attorney General and legal advice. I imagine there was engagement with the Minister for Justice and certainly with An Garda Síochána. Preparing this Bill and getting to the point we are at was not straightforward. That means we need to make sure we are taking the right course of action. I tend to agree with the Minister's analysis, even with regard to my concerns about an offender in multiple locations. I still have some concerns but I am somewhat comforted by what the Minister has said. Given all those complexities, we need to have that comprehensive review of the Bill.

The Minister gave a timescale of two years. I accept what he is saying about the committee needing to give the Bill enough time to bed in to see exactly how it is operationalised, how it impacts and how it works or not. Time will then be required to write up a review, which might be a bit unreasonable within 12 months. That is not my amendment but Deputy Shortall's. We are talking about the Minister tabling a Report Stage amendment, which I assume is what he will do anyway. Would it be possible to provide for a timescale of 18 months rather than 24 months? I think two years might be a bit too long. Based on all those concerns and the complexities of the Bill, and accepting that 12 months might be a bit too soon, I believe two years might be seen by some as too long. As Deputy Shortall said, we could potentially waste two years, although I hope not. If it becomes clear that there is a problem and the legislation is not working, it will be two years before we have a report on its operation. Is there any flexibility regarding that two-year period?