Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The amendment proposes to delete subsection (2), which states "This Act comes into operation on 1 January 2004", and amend it to state "This Act comes into operation 6 months after the date of its passing.". I am against the amendment and I want to explain why. Section 15 deals with the date of passing of Acts of the Oireachtas. It is clear that the Bill becomes an Act on the day the President signs it. This Bill has been in gestation for five years although I concede that Deputy Kitt has not been Chief Whip for that period. Why is the Minister of State suggesting that another six months must elapse before the legislation becomes effective? This is wholly unfair to people waiting on various interpretations in the courts.

Some years ago the Government published a regulatory framework, referring to better regulation, more efficiency and speedier passing of legislation. Now the Government is suggesting the Act would come into operation six months after the date of its passing. It has already been passed by the other House, having been published in 2000. It took three years for this to be disposed of and was passed on 1 July 2003. We debated it last year and we are now on Committee Stage just before the summer recess, yet the Government wants another six months to give proper interpretation and effect to this in the courts. I cannot understand why.

I ask the Minister to refer to section 15, which deals with all Acts. If it is good enough for an Act of the Oireachtas to be enacted when the President signs it why should this Act be any different? I firmly disagree with the line the Government is taking on this matter. If there is one rule for all Acts the same rule should apply to the principle Act on interpretation, given that this is an important piece of legislation.

We have a list of 25 to 30 Government amendments and I am sure the Minister will say that many are technical and deal with the drafting of the legislation. The Bill was published five years ago, yet at the last minute, just before the summer recess, we receive more amendments. Clearly the Government will not be willing to delay the legislation as this would mean the Bill would have to go back to the Dáil. The proposal regarding a six month delay in terms of implementation is a complete dilution of what we would expect of other Acts of the Oireachtas. Consequently, I am opposed to it.