Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

The first part of section 5 is effectively a sunset clause. Why is a timeframe of two years specified? Why is it not one year or three years? I especially ask this question in the context of the Minister's approach to Brussels. Is the intention to convey that the legislation is to deal with an emergency and is for an emergency period only? We have made several attempts to discover from the Minister the tenor of his exchanges with the European Union on this matter. It seems the relevant Commissioner is less than pleased with individual states taking decisions they feel they must take. The Minister has given no indication of the actions for which he got the nod or otherwise. Is it the case that the legislation would be classified as the provision of state aid if it did not contain this sunset clause? Why was a timeframe of two years chosen?

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