Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

To whom do I direct the question? Maybe the bureaucrats. Subsection (3) allows the Minister to opt out of bringing an opinion to the committee due to lack of time. It seems a useful provision. If something comes up quickly the Government must always respond, although it may not be possible to bring a committee of the House together. There does not, however, seem to be any time limit on this. This subsection could be open to abuse if a Minister was not prepared to work with a committee. Does the Minister, or Senator McDowell as the proposer of the Bill, have any idea about time limits? This is an important provision but it is also important that it is not abused.