Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is about specificity. It is worth remembering that when we pass legislation to allow for regulations to be made, that represents the Oireachtas giving power to the Minister and that is one of those key provisions.This is us giving power to the Minister in respect of regulations. It is power that is held within the Oireachtas that is transferred to the Minister almost on trust of delivery of certain pieces. In being asked to transfer those powers in respect of regulations, we are doing so on the understanding of a whole set of regulations. The concern when the word "may" is used rather than the word "shall" is the fear that some regulations under this section may be made and others may not, or they may be made differently or they may be commenced in a different way. There is that question regarding a general principle. In my later amendments I use the word “may” to facilitate being consistent with the style of the Bill. However, I note the best practice is that the word "shall" would be used. In making the decision, which many of us are happy to make in this case, to give the Minister the power to make regulations in respect of these important matters, we do so with the full knowledge of the sets of regulations and that they will interact with each other effectively. We do it as a suite knowing that the Minister shall make those regulations rather than that he may make some and may not make others. This is not a question of the Minister’s intent, it is more of question of best legislative practice and clarity.