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

That does not make a lot of sense. If that was actually the case, then the Bill would not list any organisations and would just have a general provision. However, a decision was taken to include some organisations and then have a general provision to give the Minister discretion. Clearly, the ones that are listed are more important in the sense that they always have to be included and then if the Minister or his successor wants to add others, he or she can choose to do so. The way in which this section is set out is that it says that specific organisations absolutely have to be consulted. In terms of the wider consultation, I complimented Mr. Niall Cousins and his team and his predecessor, for example, for the NPF because there was extensive consultation. The Minister was not here when we had and re-fought the battle over why there was not a vote at the end of it but we can deal with that when we get to section 20. I will not repeat that argument now. The question is why the Bill would not have "prescribed bodies" in the list of those who have to be consulted. Prescribed bodies are different because they are prescribed and there is a really compelling argument as to why they should be included here. They are of a different nature; that is their legislative positioning in all of this.

Obviously, I do not want the Minister to be restrictive. I want him to consult as widely as possible but there is nothing in what he has said that explains why a deliberate decision was taken, when listing the agencies that have to be consulted, to exclude prescribed bodies. That is why I am really interested to know why they are not in the list. If the Minister's general position is that all of these consultations will be fine on the day and he will look after it, he would not list any body. Clearly, a decision has been taken to list some and there is a really strong argument for prescribed body to be listed.

Unlike a previous discussion in this regard where the only bodies listed were statutory bodies, this list also includes members of the public. Therefore, this is a more expansive list which is all the more reason to specify prescribed bodies in the subsections to section 21(2).