Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I also thank the Minister and her officials for being so helpful and for accepting so many amendments. I look forward to concluding our deliberations on the Bill on that basis. Some 135 amendments were tabled and there was little disagreement on most of them. During the past two and a half years, when Deputy Joe Walsh was Minister for Agriculture and Food, one Bill — the An Bord Bia (Amendment) Bill — came before the House, the debate on which took approximately half an hour. However, this second Seanad Bill from the Department in the past two or three years is a very detailed and at times complicated.