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

I have a couple of things to say. We are delighted to get as much information as we have and there is no issue about being drowned in paper. I am genuinely pleased at the volume of information we are getting and the Minister's officials have bent over backwards to provide it. My point is a different one. To be clear, the frequency with which members of the Opposition have reasonably asked the Minister or the Ministers of State to clarify points in the Bill has been highly significant. I am not criticising anybody. This is a mammoth task that neither the Minister or I have been through in our respective time as elected Members. I am not making a case against what the Minister is proposing but I and other members of this committee have obligations to satisfy ourselves that we understand what is being proposed. However, I am still unclear.

I think the Chair's suggestion is helpful. If, for example, a note to explain this is provided in advance of a vote on the amendment, it would be helpful. I thank the officials again. However, there is a real challenge with this legislation. This is not a criticism because I know the Minister has other responsibilities, but we have had a lot of sessions and a lot of us, including me, the Minister's officials, Deputy Cian O'Callaghan and the Chair, have attended them all. I am not making a political point but there has been a challenge for the Minister and Ministers of State, including some Ministers of State who might not know the detail of this Bill in the way the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, knows it or in the way some of us know it, in providing explanations. At certain points in the course of our engagement over the space of several minutes, explanations have changed as the Minister of State in question tries to grapple with an understanding of complex legislation. All I am saying is that inasmuch as is possible, it would be great to get clarifications at the committee and of course we would accept the notes if they were to be provided. I am concerned because I suspect the number of notes might be more than eight and I will stand corrected if it is only eight. The frequency with which questions have not been answered clearly is greater than that and, therefore, rather than prolonging this debate because I am conscious of time, if the Chair's suggestion can be met, that satisfies me.