Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

I am delighted to be back in this House with the Seanadóirí.

A total of 20 amendments were proposed and approved on Committee Stage of the Bill in the Dáil. The Labour Party jointly proposed one of those amendments. The amendments do not make any substantive changes to the Bill as originally introduced in this House.

Amendments Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, and Nos. 8 to 20, inclusive, in sections 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the Bill were introduced to provide for the commencement of all sections of the Bill on the passing of the Bill. The previous draft of the Bill provided for ministerial orders to commence the various sections of the Act but it was then concluded that the ministerial order mechanism is not necessary and it is now proposed that all sections will come into effect on the passing of the Bill. It is merely a technical issue. We are moving from ministerial commencement orders to commencement on the passing of the Bill.

Amendment No. 7 in section 3 is a drafting amendment to delete "the substitution of" and substitute "substituting" and does not constitute a substantive or material change. That amendment was originally submitted in this House by the Labour Party Members who had tabled a number of drafting amendments on Committee Stage. However, on the advice of the Parliamentary Counsel it was not accepted at that stage. The amendment was resubmitted on Committee Stage in the Dáil. The Parliamentary Counsel had reconsidered the matter and recommended that the amendment should be made. That is in accordance with the conciliatory approach on this side of the House to try to accommodate all views and include as many of them as possible in the Bill.