Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support Deputy McNamara in his amendment. It makes eminent sense that the register would be available for public inspection. Every other asset register is open to the public, for example, the property register. By all means, if the Minister needs to introduce statutory instruments to clarify how the information is to be presented and made available, he can do so. I hope that he will support the amendment. If he cannot for some reason, I suggest an amendment to his own proposal that would go some way towards meeting Deputy McNamara's. The statutory instrument that the Minister is proposing could require the formal approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas. This has been done a number of times previously. In this way, we would ensure that the detail of the statutory instrument on public availability was discussed and that a Minister seeking to amend the statutory instrument in future would have to justify the proposal before the Houses. However, the simplest and cleanest way of dealing with this issue is as has been set out by Deputy McNamara. Let the statutory instrument elaborate on how public access is to be provided. I hope that the Minister can accept the amendment.

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