Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The WRC has a year to initiate any prosecutions against an employer and that is what section 6B of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994, as inserted by section 10 of this Bill, is going to provide for. It is to match the other offences that are already in existence in employment law. If the report on offences and penalties was to be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas a year after enactment it would probably be meaningless or consist of a blank page. Most of us know that it takes a number of years for a new piece of legislation to settle and to bed in. Primary legislation, especially if it is not amended every year, is not the appropriate place for seeking progress reports because there is an opportunity cost for officials and Members of both Houses. Amendments would be brought in to delete provisions when they are no longer provided for. I do not have a problem, in principle, with what the Senator is trying to do, which is to make sure the provisions in the Act will do what we hope they will do. It may be more appropriate and useful to meet the concerns of the Senator, and other Members, for the Oireachtas committee to invite the parties involved in the legislation to a meeting after 18 months, or whatever its members feel is an appropriate period of time. It would allow a more meaningful assessment of the provision without having to have a review and an amendment of primary legislation to render what would be a fruitless report. On that basis, I will not be accepting the amendment.