Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I will clarify it for the Deputy. Section 9, as the side note points out, relates to reductions in payments to health professionals. It is clear from the first subsection that the powers of the Minister for Health and Children are with regard to rates of pay for health professionals or classes of health professionals. Section 10 is broader but does not apply to the Minister for Health and Children. I gave a practical illustration of what was envisaged under section 10. This section does not apply to the Minister for Health and Children but to any other Minister. That is clear from the terms of the section. If we consider section 10(4), for example, we will see that "a Minister of the Government making regulations under subsection (1) shall have all the powers enjoyed by the Minister for Health and Children under section 9 and shall likewise be subject to all the obligations imposed on the Minister for Health and Children under that section." It is clear that section 10 is supplementary to section 9 and gives analogous powers to Ministers generally, which are circumscribed in section 9. In other words, home helps are not within the intendment of section 9.

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