Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have always firmly believed that a piece of legislation, particularly in its draft form like this Bill, is a living, breathing and evolving document. If we are to have faith in the democratic process, as we should, innovative ideas as to how we can improve legislation, irrespective of the quarter from which they emanate, should be genuinely discussed and, if at all possible, taken on board. The Minister and I were intent on engaging with and taking on board the concerns of all members of the committee and the further education and training community across the country.

That is the strength of the committee system. Rather than engaging in an adversarial approach to policy and legislative development, we should instead work together using a collaborative and collegiate approach to produce the best possible legislation. I am convinced that as we come towards the end of this process, that is exactly what we have done. I thank all the members of the committee in particular for their engagement and collaboration and the wisdom they expressed during the debate, particularly on Committee Stage. I hope that together we have created a model that might be adopted in other areas of legislation. If we are to stand over the quality of our democracy, we need to be able to show that this kind of deliberation and intense and forensic analysis of every piece of legislation to ensure the best possible outcome should be the norm rather than the exception in the future.

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