Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I accept this is not the normal way we do business. This Bill has been in gestation for a considerable length of time. The amendments we propose have been informed by the response of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, the Irish Pharmaceutical Union and by the debate in the House on Second Stage. Some of the amendments are technical, some change the manner in which members of the society will be elected and the types of persons the bodies identified in the legislation will nominate to the position and some deal with conflict of interest situations, and many Senators were anxious that would be dealt with. As I said on Second Stage, we had intended to deal with it in a different way but on the legal advice of the Attorney General, we have had to deal with it by way of conflict of interest provisions.

I accept the timeframe is short. I can assure Senators it is short for me too. I only saw the amendments late yesterday and the small group of officials working on this Bill have been working all night preparing for this debate. I apologise to the House but the overriding concern is to have this legislation implemented as quickly as possible because of the length of time it has been gestation and the fact we, effectively, have no fitness to practice regime for pharmacists or pharmacies in Ireland.