The McDowell report emphasised the importance of adopting an approach which achieved a fair and equitable outcome. The approach, as set out, is considered the optimum one to achieve that aim. It is a preferable approach to that suggested in the amendment moved by Senator Higgins. The issuing of a statement, as this amendment proposes, would not achieve a desirable level of active consultation. The procedure outlined, in addition to the accountability provisions elsewhere in the Bill, ensures that the chief executive of the authority is accountable to both the Minister and the Houses of the Oireachtas in regard to the justification for the levies.