Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I move amendment No. 161:

In page 104, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following: "Amendment of section 21 of Act of 2014

26. Section 21 of the Act of 2014 is amended by the insertion of the following subsection:

"(2) When considering the provision of moneys to be provided to the Commission, the Minister may give consideration to the additional powers the Commission may have undertaken, or been provided with, in a given year, and the increased expenses the Commission may have incurred as a result.".".

The purposes of amendments Nos. 161 and 164 are broadly similar. The amendments recognise the new powers that will be conferred on the commission by the passing of this legislation. These will naturally mean its workload will increase. The concern in such instances is that unless the money is provided to reflect the increased workload that the commission will be taking on, existing staff will be stretched to the point that it affects the organisation's ability to carry out necessary functions to the best of its ability. For this reason, I have submitted my amendments. We need to make sure the organisation is fully resourced and funded to deliver on what we all agree is extremely important work.