Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The ministerial amendment is clear that "the Minister shall consult with the Board and such other persons as the Minister considers appropriate". It is deliberately not prescriptive because in a couple of years' time, there could be relevant persons who do not exist now, but it puts a requirement on the Minister to consult people in this space. If there is one certainty it is that the officials or their successors will be there when we are not and they have done huge consultation and shown great co-operative spirit in trying to make this work. That will continue within the Department.

My reading of Deputy Shanahan's amendment is that it is a rolling review rather than a periodic one. That speaks to my concern that this would be constantly under review and that we will not get the space to get the function up and running. My review is targeted at the mediation side of things because as I said, since 2004 we have had two separate items of legislation, in 2007 and 2019, updating the whole thing and this will be third Bill related to the PIAB. We have not left it there. We are watching it. We are not throwing it out there and going away. It will be under constant scrutiny. The review process as laid out in the Government amendment provides for consultation that must be done within a given time period.

See this speech in context