Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I apologise for holding up the House and I do not want to keep us here all day. The legislation states, "provided that such information is not publicly disclosed except in the form of a summary so compiled as to prevent particulars relating to the identity of any home care provider, or of any person for whom any home care provider provides home care services, being ascertained from it.". Therefore, we are preventing the publication of particulars relating to the identity of any home care provider. This is what the Bill provides. What is the purpose of this? Somewhere in the future, some judge will ask how the Oireachtas could have passed this legislation. The Bill is going back to the Dáil so there is no problem here. If this is as innocuous as the Minister of State says it is, the simplest thing to do is remove it.

I am now in situation where I must introduce an amendment on Report Stage because I cannot see what purpose this serves. I thought I was just picking up something and that there was a deliberate policy. The Minister of State says there is no such policy, but the Government is including a prohibition on it happening even though there is no such policy. I am not confused, but I am sufficiently annoyed to notify the House that I must introduce an amendment on this matter on Report Stage.