Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I am happy to go back to the Parliamentary Counsel and have him examine the issue raised by Senator Regan. The matter will be examined but it has been included out of an abundance of caution.

On Senator O'Toole's point, I would favour having a fixed date for the commencement of the Act and inserting that date in the legislation. The best solution is that one would fix a definite date upon which the Bill would commence. It is not a good idea to leave it to the presidential signature because it might be an arbitrary date. The first date of a month could be fixed as a commencement date. As this is a Seanad Bill, I will be in a better position to determine that when the Bill is at a later Stage.