Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

The point made by Deputy Howlin strengthens the argument in regard to what should and should not be included. I made that argument on Committee Stage, having made the original argument just before that. The point is that nothing in the legislation before the House impinges negatively or otherwise on the two items of legislation. Were one to take the view that, perhaps, it might — I do not see how one could take that view — one could equally take the view that it would impinge on 20 or 30 other items of legislation. That is the point I made to Deputy Howlin on that occasion. I do not see any benefit in doing that. What we have done is to ensure that our obligations in transposing the directive are met and that we do not impact negatively on any existing rights in the whole area of information and consultation. There is no question of impinging on rights in any other area. The point I was making is that were one to include those two items of legislation, how could one sensibly argue that one would exclude 20 or 30 others.

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