Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy. Yes, it is a drafting issue. That is the fairest way to characterise it. We are seeking to legislate against the inappropriate use of NDAs in the way set out in head 8, which builds on the Private Members' Bill that Senator Ruane and other Senators put forward. I recognise that head 8 is not identical to Senator Ruane's Bill but it covers most of the elements contained in her Bill. I hope that at some point we can tease out some of those differences and outline why they arise.

We submitted the provisions of this Bill to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for drafting in late July. There was work to take place on the section on maternity protection, which we asked to prioritise. There was work to take place on the section providing for maternity leave for Oireachtas Members. There is also work to take place on this section, which relates to NDAs. When we looked for a stamped draft to bring before the committee, it was indicated to us that because of the volume of work involved, particularly on the maternity protection section and the section on NDAs, which would transpose what is in head 8 into legislative amendment text, it was not ready.

To secure delivery, I had choices to make, and one of those choices was to say we should leave the NDA and just give a stamped Bill with two pieces. However, because I believe in this NDA provision and because we had discussed it in this committee and at length in Seanad Éireann, and through cross-party agreement we had decided to move it to Seanad Éireann, I wanted to ensure this section moved on. The advice I got was that the best way to ensure that, in a situation where we know there are various timelines running ahead, is to bring it through as a Committee Stage amendment in Dáil Éireann. I know that is not ideal but, prior to a general election, if we have passed legislation that creates maternity leave for Oireachtas Members, legislates regarding the inappropriate use of NDAs and allows women who are sick during their maternity leave to defer that, that will be a positive outcome and one I will certainly be happy to have achieved. I hope that, as a committee, we can work towards that.