Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Higgins for her constructive contribution. Can I clarify with the Minister exactly what he is proposing in terms of the Joint Committee on Health? In December my understanding was that the Minister then intended to bring a memo to Cabinet in regard to the heads of the legislation, and then to refer the heads of the legislation to the committee for pre-legislative scrutiny, and this would happen at the end of March as the latest possible date. I am looking at the exact quotes, but I have more or less paraphrased the commitments the Minister gave. Why has that changed? I do not understand that. Why has the structure of what he proposed in December changed now? Is there a reason for it?Maybe I just do not understand what the reason for this is, but I was very clear in my view that we were to have the heads of a Bill on which to carry out pre-legislative scrutiny quickly by the end of March at the latest. The Minister might explain again what he proposes to do in four weeks.