Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

This amendment was tabled following the debate on Committee Stage. This is a standard provision to which Senators wished to add the requirement that the agency would agree a code of conduct with the employees within three months of the enactment of the Bill. I appreciate the intention of the proposal. To include such a level of detail to cater for particular circumstances of a State body would be at odds with the overarching nature of this type of governance provision. It is not suitable to be dealt with specifically in legislation. The drafting of the code of conduct requires detailed consultation with staff and possibly the examination of legal issues which may arise. A deadline such as that proposed in amendment No. 26 would put significant constraints on the process. On that basis, there is no precedent for a timeframe being specified in this type of provision. However, the parliamentary counsel has advised that the wording "as soon as may be" can be inserted into the section and I propose that this be done.