Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry that Deputy Ryan doubts our bona fides with regard to this public consultation, bearing in mind the fact that we have extended it to allow for further public consultation and to allow people to make submissions on such a necessary topic. It is a complex issue that the Department needed to research. The drafting of the best practice guidelines for burning took longer than anticipated due to the various issues that needed to be covered in the guidelines. It was not a question of waiting until 21 December. It was more a question of not being ready until then. We offered a 28-day consultation period, as I have said. That is at the higher end of standard consultation periods. We allowed for automatic extension, if needed. It was needed in this case. We did that last Monday. It is now a six-week consultation period. There was no statutory obligation on me to consult. It seems I am actually being criticised for acting in good faith. The extension of the deadline to 31 January gives interested parties a reasonable opportunity to consider. Moreover, I did this without being asked by the Oireachtas.

See this speech in context