Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am conscious I did not deal with the Bill as my colleague Deputy Nash did. He is unavailable today because of Covid. I am familiar with the Bill. I will not go through all of the legal advice I have but I will mention some of it. There is a clear distinction between the retroactive creation of a legal right and the retroactive outlawing of a breach of such a right. The latter would offend Article 15.5.1° of the Constitution but the former would not. I can quote legal cases where this has been determined in the courts. In other words, we can retrospectively confer rights but we cannot retrospectively withdraw those that have already been adduced in the courts. I am very conscious the Minister has embraced this with a very open mind. He has engaged with the committee. He has done a fine job. That is why it is unfortunate we have only ten or 11 minutes to resolve these matters. There are no time constraints on us in respect of this Bill, which is not time-sensitive. Will the Minister give additional time for these matters to be worked through to the point of satisfaction?

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