Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I move amendment No. 41:

In page 18, subsection (7), line 6, to delete "may" and substitute the following:

"shall, within one year of the commencement of this section,".

This is self-explanatory. It seeks to amend section 20(7) not to make any change to its purpose but to provide a time limit within which it would take effect. I have changed "may" to "shall, within one year of the commencement of this section,", changing from the facilitative, which allows the Minister to make regulations on carrying out social housing assessments, to the mandatory, which requires the Minister to do so within one year of the commencement of the section. Its importance is that it provides that new needs assessments will take place within a year of this section being commenced. Clearly, there is discretion as to when the section will be commenced and we are all realistic about that since it happens with most legislation. There is discretion as to when section 20(7) will take effect but this amendment is to strengthen its purpose, given how important it is that these regulations are made, by ensuring they would be made within one year of commencement. I do not see this as unduly restrictive of the Minister, given that there is always some flexibility as to when the section will be commenced. It provides a timeline for when the regulations will be drawn up in respect of new social housing assessments.