Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I take the Senator's point.

Ultimately, retrospectivity is something that is always treated with caution. The real issues with NDAs have been outlined and which touch on these particular issues. We need to be cautious with what we are trying to achieve here, which is to stamp these out, does not contain a provision that might make what we are doing legally questionable. We drawing a very clear line in the sand in terms of the circumstances in which an NDA can be used and we are providing a range of protections and setting out a certain process without which, in the future, the NDA will not be recognised. We should be cautious about jeopardising this new approach by undertaking a retrospective element that potentially undermines legitimate expectation of both parties in NDAs that have been signed in the past. I would be cautious about doing that, particularly in light of the good we are trying to achieve with this legislation.