Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I welcome the Minister and the legislation to the House. I have no difficulty in supporting the Bill and I look forward to doing so. I cannot resist the temptation of having a little swipe at those who drafted it in the first place. They got part of it wrong and this is about the fifth occasion in the course of this year that we have had to deal with emergency legislation. I find draftspeople very inflexible — I do not mean the Minister but the drafting — and this is a classic example.

On that point, perhaps I might ask the Minister a question which I know is the last thing he would wish to hear at this stage. I notice that he accepted in the other House the change to the words "physical access". When I read the Bill, I found that phrase kept jumping off the page at me. There is something wrong with that wording, but the Minister has accepted it and I can see why. It is certainly better than what was stated originally and I accept the argument in its favour. However, I am not sure. It is almost as if someone were tied down. The drink would be over there, with me tied up here so I could not move. That is the sort of impression that I get. It is like a comedy.