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

I am not sure where I gave the Senator the impression that I was afraid. I am absolutely not. I was trying to explain to the Senator that in primary legislation, and especially with regard to the 12 months that has been proposed in the amendment, any such report would be a blank page and would have very little information. It takes a while for new legislation to bed in and come into practice. The reason I stood to my feet was to say what Senator Nash has said earlier, which is that the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, provides an annual report on every single item of legislation over which it adjudicates. When this legislation is enacted, hopefully early in the new year, it will form part of the WRC's annual reports for 2019, 2020 and 2021. I do not, therefore, feel the need to include that provision in primary legislation. It is the only reason I was not proposing to accept the Senator's amendment.