Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

The legislation will be introduced at the earliest stage. First, we must get a decision of Government and we hope to go to Government on 21 June. As the Deputy is aware, we have the shell of legislation prepared by the Deputy's Government previously. Part of the legislation is drafted. We hope this will help us to minimise the delay and the Parliamentary Counsel's time and that we can move swiftly to implement it. Several factors are at play and I cannot give precise predictions on the timing but it is my determination to do this as rapidly as possible.

The review recommends that consideration should be given to confining the JLC rates to the basic adult rate. One of the recommendations put forward by our proposals is to implement what the review has raised as an issue for consideration. The reason for it is that in some sectors there are 25 different rates which must be recorded and accounted for separately. The review raised the point that this is too cumbersome and ought to be reformed. This is why the proposal is on the agenda and part of the ongoing discussions.

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