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

I am bringing forward this amendment to slightly change the drafting of the table of bands in section 16. This will sound really Irish: we are slightly changing it but we are not altering it. Senators might not be aware that the table currently in the Bill resulted from a Sinn Féin amendment on Committee Stage in the Dáil. While I had concerns at the time I have been won over to the view that the bands are not as narrow as I originally thought. There was broad agreement for the original amendment. However, the Office of the Attorney General is of the view that the way the bands were drafted in the Opposition amendment will cause uncertainty to both employers and employees and none of us want that. The office has advised that using the terms "or more" or "less than" in the table will cause difficulties. The purpose of the amendment is to remove them but it keeps the bands exactly as they were proposed by Sinn Féin on Committee Stage in the Dáil.