Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

As the Minister of State stated, we will depend on our EU counterparts. Although we have an EU code of conduct, I believe it is a fig-leaf. Will the Minister of State pursue at Commission level the introduction of proposals to ensure we are all at one in achieving an objective to which we all subscribe strongly? I accept what the Minister of State stated on Committee Stage and we took cognisance of it in drafting this amendment.

We now find more intensive scrutiny has raised another issue we did not think would arise. We accept other member states at their word that they will carry out the same degree of vigilance. I appreciate we cannot transgress into other member states. Does the Minister of State anticipate an EU directive to harmonise at EU level the level of scrutiny this Bill will achieve here? I will withdraw the amendment because the Minister of State has given us strong guarantees on his commitment and we accept them.

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