Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister, Deputy Bruton, as I said yesterday, is committed to coming to the House to discuss the Action Plan for Education.

Senators Warfield and Ó Donnghaile raised a very important issue around the enactment of the Children and Family Relationships Act. To be fair, Senator Warfield outlined to me before today that he was going to raise the matter. I was in touch with the Department. A number of technical drafting issues have come to light in respect of Parts 2 and 3 of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015. The implications of these issues are being explored by officials in the Department and the Office of the Attorney General and clarification on whether primary legislation is required to resolve these issues is being sought.

In the event that primary legislation is required, the Minister will seek this as a matter of urgency. I ask Senator Warfield to give the Minister a bit more time to come back to us on the matter. I have flagged the matter with the Department because it is a very important one. As the Senator has said, there are people affected by this delay. As I have outlined to the House, there are issues that need to be addressed and more time is required in regard to the matter. I would be happy to come back to the House again with the Minister at a later date. Rather than creating a debate now on it, I have given the House an updated position and would be happy to return to the matter in a number of weeks.

Senator Colm Burke raised the issue of investment in health and I will have the Minister come to the House regarding that matter. Senators Kieran O'Donnell and Lombard raised the issue of the connectivity in the context of Shannon Airport. I congratulate the airport on its New York Stewart International Airport daily flight. As Senator Lombard rightly said, those of us in the southern capital of Cork have been disproportionately affected by Norwegian Air's decision. I have written to the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport requesting that the DAA come to the committee to explain why Cork Airport lost out in this case. As Senator Kieran O'Donnell rightly said, it is about having a structured debate around our aviation policy in the future whereby we do not allow everything to happen in Dublin and where the growth is not just centred around Dublin but that both Cork and Shannon can be seen to grow exponentially as well. I would be happy to have that debate with the Minister, Deputy Ross, in the coming weeks.

If Senator Warfield would allow me to have the Minister come back to me again with an update rather than divide the House on a very important issue, I would be happy to come back to him. I will not accept his amendment on the basis of the reply I have given to the House to the effect that the Department is working to iron out the difficulties and I would hope that he would allow that space.