In the reply to the Dáil question the then Minister clarified that the commission had confirmed to her Department that it was agreeable, in principle, to assuming this additional function. It had initiated work on devising an appropriate scheme for the regulation of the industry and identifying the financial and human resource requirements as a basis for its recommendation to the Minister. Additional staff had been allocated to facilitate the carrying out of this task and the commission had assured the Department that work on devising an appropriate scheme would be given priority.