Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On Committee Stage, Senator Bacik raised a drafting issue. She pointed to a potential inconsistency between two sections. In section 30(1)(c), parents representatives have to be either parents of children under 18 years who are students in schools and centres for education or parents of learners of any age in children detention schools, prisons, etc. However, the Senator felt it was not clear in section 33(1)(c) whether the learner had to be aged under 18. I gave an undertaking to have this matter raised with the Parliamentary Counsel and, having done so, I have tabled this amendment, which ensures this provision is consistent with section 30. It will provide that the learner may be under or over 18 years. I thank the Senator for raising the matter.