Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I beg Senators' indulgence regarding the details of this. I had a conversation late last night with the Attorney General in which I asked him to start work on it. When my telephone rang very rudely at the start of this debate, it was the Attorney General looking to talk to me. Most of this morning was spent preparing to speak to the Senators today so I do not have the firm details at this stage, but I am happy to make a commitment that, when the draft amendment is ready, I will ensure it is supplied to Senators so they can scrutinise it.

As regards the database and the question as to the harm in allowing it to rest in the archive until such time as information-and-tracing legislation is produced, Senator Bacik made the point that it did not get delivered in the term of the last Dáil. I do not believe any of us thinks the information-and-tracing legislation will be produced quickly. It should not be. It should be done right, and appropriate time should be allowed. The database does provide a benefit now. It will provide a benefit to Tusla in its existing functions. We are all aware that these are inadequate as regards information and tracing but the database will provide a benefit. That benefit, plus the certainty that the database is not in the archive, is worth passing this legislation for.