Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

The point is that the registration body must be independent, as recommended by the Competition Authority. I will not lead a major campaign or put down amendments on this issue. A dialogue on the issue is what I want.

The Minister is competent. He has studied this issue and is frustrated that it is being delayed again and again, and that nothing has happened. He is the first Minister to grasp this issue, to introduce legislation on it and to bring it through the Dáil. It is now in the Seanad and the Minister is asking whether, at this stage, we would return again to square one. I understand his frustration but does he not understand the concerns of those individuals who may be out of a job when the Bill is passed? That is the reality.

These are experienced people. Anyone practising in the State prior to the enactment of this legislation who can prove they had been commissioned to carry out competent work should have some method of being registered under the Bill. Can the Minister see some way to achieve this? If he amends the Bill, he must go back to the Dáil, although I note the Minister himself has an amendment. I see nothing wrong in that.