Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 24 September 2024

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth

General Scheme of the Maternity Protection (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2024: Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

3:30 pm

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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That is helpful. I hope the committee can work with the Minister on that. It would also be great if the Minister could share as early as possible what the amendments look like, particularly with the Senators who were involved in the Private Members’ Bill in the Seanad, so we try to get as many people on board as early as possible. My fear is we will have a debate around process and then delay in a way that means we do not get this legislation done, which would be a missed opportunity. I am happy to defer in particular to the Senators who have been involved in this debate in the Seanad. Knowing what it is like when trying to get pieces of a Bill ready, it is sometimes necessary to ask the parliamentary draftspeople to prioritise elements of it with a view to trying at a later stage to retrofit an extra piece to miscellaneous legislation like this. We all lose if the thing runs out of time. I appeal to the Minister to share the detail of how he intends to deal with the NDAs as early as possible, especially with the Senators who have effectively been setting the debate on this issue.