Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I have a brief supplementary, and I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his indulgence. A Bill with 1,200 sections is not a normal Bill. It is simply beyond the capacity of the Parliamentary Counsel to produce it. I suggest the Minister might examine the way in which the finance consolidation Bill was produced whereby it was outsourced through the Revenue Commissioners. The Minister might consider an alternative venue for preparing this legislation. If the staff of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel is to employ their skills on a 1,200 section Bill, no other legislation will be produced with the existing resources. I invite the Minister to give a commitment that he will publish the heads of the Bill to enable the committee to examine it and that he will also give serious consideration to the logistics of its drafting. It is not capable of being produced with the normal machinery of government.

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