Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Amendment No. 42 proposes to delete section 4(6), which restates section 269 of the 2000 Act - they are almost identical - and is a standard technical provision to enable the Minister make regulations to remove any difficulty in the operation of any section of the Bill, within three years of the commencement of the Bill. For the benefit of Deputy O'Callaghan, it has never been used, so I cannot give an example. We have checked with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, OPC, and it is included in many Acts, including the Local Government Act 2001. It is a standard technical provision that would allow regulations be made to remove any difficulties to facilitate the operation of a particular provision. The provision can only be used for a period of three years from the date of commencement and is provided to correct any provision that could not be brought into force because of a technical or drafting matter, or a transitional difficulty. Although this provision was included in the Act of 2000, it was never used. It is included as a purely precautionary measure and with the advice of the OPC. Any changes made to the legislation under such regulations would be regularised through an amendment to the legislation at a later date. Given the scale and complexity of the Bill, it is important to have this provision to ensure any such problems can be efficiently remediated to allow the provisions of the Bill be commenced as quickly as possible and I cannot, therefore, accept amendment No. 42.