James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the amendments in the spirit in which they have been made, although I am not sure about the detail of them. I agree with Deputy Stanley that it is desirable to involve the committee in deliberations of any kind and in a review of regulations. I am not sure if there is difficulty with the amendments in that, as they are worded, they do not refer to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and the Environment. The Minister might elaborate on that. While it is laudable and worthy to always put the interests of the State first in terms of commercial matters when we are trying to incentivise and attract investment, I wonder if it could be misinterpreted or give rise to some confusion when investors are weighing up the competing jurisdictions in which to invest and enter into commercial activities. We need to ensure that direct investment is attracted and that there is not an ambiguity about the potential return. Those are my observations on the amendments.

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