Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

The reason I asked the Minister how long it took her Department to prepare this legislation was to allow me to contrast the reply with the few hours Deputies have had to consider the Bill. That was the context of my question. As Deputies Enright and Shortall have noted, we have had an extremely short lead-in time to the legislation. I fully concur with Deputy Enright's point that some of us would like to support the legislation, even if it falls short of what we seek. Like other Deputies, I find it difficult to do so without having had an opportunity to research and test it.

The Minister indicated that the process will be reviewed in approximately three years. May we infer from this timeframe that she will not introduce legislation on foot of the publication of a White Paper on pensions for three years? If that is the implication of the review, it would be alarming as it would prevent us from addressing the pensions issue and clearing up the mess surrounding it for three years. While it would be unfair to hang the pensions mess around the neck of the Minister, I will certainly hang it around the neck of the Government whose failure to address the issue has brought us to this point. I ask the Minister for clarification.

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