Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this section and believe this amendment was probably tabled in good faith, but that is where my support finishes. If one starts requiring prescriptive lists, as Senator Hayden has just said, one will unintentionally exclude people from strata of society that should be included. We have great experience of establishing forums across various sectors of society for various reasons. I understand that, by regulation, the Minister will set out the detail of this section at a later stage. There will then be an opportunity to encompass and include all of those who should be at the table.

We have heard disagreements of this kind before from political parties across the floor. We have heard objections to the setting up of local policing forums. The same people are now knocking down the doors of these forums seeking meetings so they can issue press statements locally to ensure they are getting media coverage even before those meetings occur.