Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the same regard, I do not think the amendment is necessary on the basis that there is no way that this Bill, as it currently stands and is drafted, could be interpreted as designating a service provider as a public body within the meaning of the 2019 Act. The only way that the Bill could actually have such an effect is that if it contained a specific provision amending the 2019 Act to state that, and to that effect. From the advice that I have received, if the Bill did intend to allow the Minister to designate a particular NGO as a public service body for the purpose of this Bill, the proper means of enabling this would have to be by way of a specific provision to that effect. We would have to specify it very much along the same lines as the previous amendments. I appreciate the intention behind the amendment to make sure that information that should not be shared is not shared. However, it has been made very clear to me that in order for that to happen, we would have to specify it in this Bill, and we have not done so for very obvious reasons.

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