Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Members should be happy with that. It is not the case that we are refusing to make any changes.

The problem with this amendment is this. I have already quoted instances where such provisions are in use. It is not that we are saying Senator Norris is wrong with this amendment. We are only saying that the scope of this Bill, and the public consultation that went along with it, did not involve changes to employment law. It involved changes to the structures and the procedures. It would be unfair to change the scope of the Bill during this debate because it would defeat the purpose of the public consultation.

A commitment is being given to Senator Norris now that this will be addressed across all of the primary legislation, not only this one Bill. It will have effect in a range of areas. It would not be a case of accepting the amendment - end of story. There would be a fair bit of work involved, which would delay the Bill, which has taken a long time to get through as it is. We want to progress with this as it is now and not reopen the consultation on it, but there is a commitment to try to address Senator Norris's concerns at a later stage. That is the position. The wording of Senator Norris's amendment is not wrong. It is just that it is the wrong time to put it in this Bill.