Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 106, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 21 of Act of 2014

28.Section 21 of the Act of 2014 is amended by the insertion of the following subsection: “(2) When considering the provision of moneys to be provided to the Commission, the Minister may give consideration to the additional powers the Commission may have undertaken, or been provided with, in a given year, and the increased expenses the Commission may have incurred as a result.”.”.

The purpose of amendments Nos. 1 and 2 is broadly similar. The amendments recognise the new powers that will be conferred on the commission by passing the legislation. It will mean that the workload increases. The concern is that unless money is provided to reflect the increased workload, important work will not be done, to the point that it affects the organisation's ability to carry out necessary functions. I have tabled amendments and think that we need to have a belt, braces and baler twine approach to ensure that the commission has all the resources that it needs. New powers are welcome, but they are effectively useless without the capacity of the organisation to back that up. The two amendments are broadly similar.

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