Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 173 seeks to provide that the Government "shall have regard" to plans and documents that are considered appropriate and to assist in this, the Government shall consult a range of joint Oireachtas committees and shall include a statement in any draft provision on the new NPF about why information would be considered appropriate for the purposes of this review. On this one, I disagree. I do not consider this amendment appropriate or necessary. This is already provided for under section 21(2), which provides that the Minister "shall make provision" for the public in the review, including arrangements for consulting Members of the Oireachtas. Obviously, that includes Oireachtas committees as well. It is not necessary to list the range of joint Oireachtas committees. In the round, section 21(2) very much covers that area.

On Deputy O'Callaghan's point, he will see that section 22(2) states:

Without prejudice to subsection (1), in carrying out a review... the Government shall have regard to such plans or documents... as may be prescribed.

There must be some degree of flexibility but it says the Government "shall". We do not believe that the amendment to "shall" is appropriate because "may" gives the level of flexibility that we need to put in the legislation. However, in the legislation it also states that the Government "shall", or has to, look at documents. With regard to the ones Government deems to be relevant, there must be flexibility around that area because some may be appropriate and some may not.