Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the Minister's comments. What she outlined in regard to the review of legislation needs to happen, but it will not happen today, tomorrow, next week, next month or even in six months. It might happen in a year's time. That is the reality. The legislation before us is very important and, if enacted properly and in full, will have a very significant impact on how people get justice and so on. It is well within the remit of the Department of Justice to review that within the three-year period.

I have much respect for the Minister but I do not think she actually believes the arguments she is putting up against the amendment. They do not make sense. She indicated it would be okay to provide for a review in 12 months but not in three years because a period of three years might delay the implementation of the Bill and how its practices take effect. The three-year period is intended to ensure that the review works and that, if problems arise, they will be dealt with and sorted out. That is it.

As was mentioned by other Deputies, the Children Act 2001 is being amended now, 20-odd years later. We do not want such a situation to happen again. My great fear is that the 12-month review provision will miss an awful lot of issues and we could be in the same situation again 15 or 20 years down the road. Obviously, I will not be debating it, but someone else will be looking to review it. We can avoid that by having a proper review system. There has to be such a provision in this legislation because if it is anywhere else, it will not happen quickly enough. We need to do the other work as well.

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