Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

I move amendment No. 48:

In page 49, line 40, to delete "on" and substitute "including".

This is a modest proposal. It seems the Minister is being excessively cautious in not accepting it. It relates to a person making a complaint. There is a tendency in legislation on occasion to specify what people can do but by being so specific it may mean that certain areas of concern are not included. We should not claim to have ultimate wisdom. The amendment proposes that the word "on" should be replaced by the word "including". It means that the specific areas that can be subject to complaint are included in but are not exclusively the only grounds on which people can make complaints. It seems to be a more advanced way of dealing with the complaints process.

As regards people making vexatious or frivolous complaints, that is allowed for in the legislation. Often we spend our time amending legislation because areas that need to be dealt with in law are omitted from it. This amendment proposes a small change but it is a basic approach that I recommend the Minister might adopt, rather than simply setting out specific areas under which complaints can be made and stating that they cannot be made under any other areas. He should acknowledge that complaints can be made for perfectly valid reasons and can come from quarters and be about issues that may not have been thought of. The world is full of surprises. We should allow for a certain element of range in our legislation.

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