Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Duffy for stepping into the Chair. I think we all become aware during our time here - some of us have been here a shorter time than others - that when drafting an amendment, it needs to be written in a careful manner because it becomes the law. When we discuss things in this room about amendments and insertions, although they are well intentioned and the thought behind them is to try to improve the process, we need to be careful that we do not end up drafting a policy document that is actually a piece of legislation. I think sometimes we may end up blurring the lines a little bit. This is something that barristers, planners and so on will have to rely on in court to be able to read very clearly. When I read my amendment back and respond to it, I see that it could have been written in a little bit better manner in that, as it reads now, one can infer from it that I mean that every single person who puts in a submission must be responded to.