Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I also agree with the sentiment of the amendment. As the Minister said in his earlier contribution, he intends to bring something forward next year. What we have seen through the previous Dáil and Seanad is how difficult it is to progress this legislation. The legislation before us is a step in the right direction but a lot of stakeholder engagement needs to happen from this point onwards. I ask that the Minister at his earliest possible convenience would engage with stakeholders. I have been contacted by Tuam Mother and Baby Home Alliance and it is anxious to engage and to be very much involved from the outset.

I also thank the Minister for taking on board so many of the views over recent days. I spoke on Wednesday about that balancing of rights and he has taken that on board and will come back with an amendment. I have also been in contact with his office in recent days on the index, as have a number of other Senators, and he has responded by giving us an assurance on that index and I also thank him for that. However, I do not think that it can happen within eight months when we are looking at that level of stakeholder engagement and the complexity of the issue.