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

Is the Minister in a position at this point to give us any indication on the following questions? Who will decide the scale of fees? Will that be a decision of the Government or of a particular Minister? What is the mechanism by which that will be introduced? With respect to the means test, is there any additional information the Minister can give us at this stage as to what that is likely to look like or what the parameters of that may be?

With respect to public consultation, because I presume this cuts across not just the Minister's Department but also the Department of Justice, is it the Minister's intention to have any formal Oireachtas involvement? The issue has been raised with us about a David and Goliath type battle. For example, we can imagine a situation where there are local residents or environmental campaigners versus, let us say, a corporate entity that could potentially be involved in activities that are polluting or negative to the environment or public health. There is a fear that if the architecture the Minister just outlined and the scales and means test are set in the wrong way, people who are trying to defend the public interest, public health and the environment could have access to far fewer resources than, for example, a corporation that could be involved in polluting activity that is negative to public health and the environment and that there would not be that fairness and equality. How does the Minister ensure that equity and fairness he was talking about is guaranteed in such cases, even in cases where people might not win the case but could be taking the case on very legitimate public interest grounds?