Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with my colleagues. I thank them for their contributions. I also thank the Minister of State and her officials. We, too, would hope to work with the Government. I note some of the issues the Minister of State has raised. I await with interest the review or report which is going to be published presently. I understand what she is saying about the difference in risk profiles. I think that probably the vast majority of cases will be of a similar level but that is certainly something we can tease out. I note what the Minister of State is saying about the potential increase in effort on the part of clubs or organisations. Usually the officer there will be used to dealing with it and will not have the resistance or allergy to bureaucracy that some applicants or volunteers would have, whereby if they see a five-page form they just push it away. That is also something that can be teased out.

We had a discussion with the OPLA about somebody who gives their consent to be included and allows the organisations to access information over a three-year period, but then changes their name in the intervening period. We can discuss that. Perhaps something could be provided for if it is shown they were doing it in a deliberate way. The wording was kept relatively vague in the proposal, knowing it would have to be scrutinised at a later stage. We want to ease the administration on the clubs and on the people but, most importantly, to protect the vulnerable adults and the children. We look forward to engaging with colleagues, officials and with the Minister of State on it as soon as possible.

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