Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The first mistake, which the Minister has acknowledged, arises from the fact this was not properly scrutinised in the way it should have been in the first place. How can we have any confidence now that all of these substantial amendments, not just the amendment to the amendment but a whole series of other amendments, are in fact what the Minister says they are? I do not mean to suggest the Minister is trying to pull the wool over our eyes, although he could be, but he could have made a whole series of other errors. How can we have any confidence now that what we are dealing with, and the notes the Minister is getting from the Department, are accurate representations of the amendments we are dealing with, given that such a serious mistake has emerged?

Second, on Deputy Coppinger's point, will the Minister explain Deputy Alan Kelly's measure? If I understand what the Minister said, the 24 month moratorium on further increases continues to apply until that 24 month period is up, but once it is up, at that point, Deputy Alan Kelly's two year moratorium disappears and there is no two year moratorium from that point onwards. That point onwards could be January 2017.

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