Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

The Bill will be published early in 2009. As regards priority, to the best of my knowledge one Parliamentary Counsel at the Office of the Attorney General has been specifically delegated to deal with the Bill. In addition, there is one official in my Department who is, in effect, the expert in this area.

I met representatives of the Gay and Lesbian Network, GLEN, just after the publication of the heads of the Bill. There are some 138 heads, which means the legislation is extremely complex. To the best of my knowledge, I have not met representatives of any other groups. However, such representatives have met officials from my Department to discuss various issues relating to the legislation. The fact that we published the heads of the Bill on the Internet means we are encouraging members of the public and interest groups to make representations.

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