Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The reason is that the changes we are making, such as in the areas of adjudication and enforcement, have a knock-on impact on dozens of pieces of legislation elsewhere. One has to ensure the original legislation is correctly amended to reflect the new process. That involves going back over swathes of legislation to ensure everything is correct. In all cases the amendments are technical and tidy up legislation but the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel tries to ensure the legislation carries no risk of ambiguity. Scrubbing the text goes on throughout the process. I accept that it is a bit frustrating but all I can do is assure the Senator that they are not substantive amendments. If the amendments made any change of which the Seanad needed to be aware we would alert Members accordingly.

The Senator will be able to imagine the geometry of the legislation where 30 pieces of legislation have 40 sections each. We then change parent legislation and that causes a domino effect, so the Senator will imagine the multiplication of work involved.While I understand fully what Senator Cullinane is saying, from my point of view it is better to get all these technical things done right and done now than to come back and be obliged to start the process again.