Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question. As he will be aware, we do not have a majority in the Seanad, therefore, in that context, it has been more difficult to move this legislation through. In one sense though, it is not necessarily a bad thing. I have met Opposition and Independent Senators extensively regarding the policy issues. The Deputy is correct, it has to do with balancing the rights to privacy and identity. On the basis of those meetings, my Department and I have crafted many options to go back and forth with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in order to resolve that balance in a way that is constitutional. We have not been able to resolve it completely in a way that it is constitutional to the satisfaction of some of the Seanad Members. That is still where we are at.

The issues that have been raised today and discovery that has been made about which we are speaking creates an imperative for us to look again at the Bill, move through it and effectively agree on it but it seems compromises will probably be needed in order to move some of the amendments in such a way that they are constitutional.

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