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

The thing I am confused on is in section 21(2), it says the Minister "shall make provision", and in section 21(4), it says "the Government shall have regard to any observations", yet in section 22(1) it says the Government "may have regard". My question to the Minister of State is this: why was a decision taken to use "may" there, which is weaker language? Part of the Minister of State's argument is that we should not worry about "may" being in section 22(1) because "shall" is in sections 21(2) and (4). In fact, the very opposite is the case. If what the Minister of State suggests were the case, it should say "shall" in section 22(1). Why is there a different use of wording there? Clearly, that is a deliberate decision.