Professor Graham Butler:

This Bill was introduced in the previous Dáil and Seanad and it is now being considered here. The reason there is such extensive pre-legislative scrutiny on this Bill and the sheer number of submissions, as the Cathaoirleach mentioned, is these issues are absolutely not straightforward. There are many different angles and approaches which all of us could come with regarding the Bill. The purpose of today's meeting and the purpose of the report are to feed as many of these different perspectives into the eventual Bill. Of course, the Bill to be initiated by the Tánaiste will not be the end product per se. There will be plenty of opportunities in both Houses to introduce amendments, which I am sure will be brought to the attention of the committee from different perspectives in this regard.