Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry to keep coming back to this issue. I understand where the Minister of State is coming from. I know he is not coming new to this, but this is his first time debating this legislation in Seanad Éireann. I fully understand and respect that.

We talked earlier about trust and communication. I am a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas. We are Senators. I have made a very simple request. The Minister of State has confirmed to the House that the draft regulations are in operation and have been prepared. I accept that they are evolving and moving and are fluid. By their very nature they have to be. I understand that. They are in draft form. I understand that. They cannot be finalised until the legislation is finalised. I understand that.

However, the Minister of State has also confirmed that these draft regulations will be circulated to the farmers, whom we are representing, who are in the Public Gallery and whom we are talking about and supporting. To bridge that communication and that trust, I am simply asking the Minister of State, his official here or somebody else to say there is absolutely no problem with this. There should be no problem with looking at the draft regulations. It would give us some comfort and understanding in the direction in which the Department may be going.

I do not want to tie the Minister of State's hands in respect of the regulations. I fully respect that. He says he will go back to the Minister and relay our concerns to him. I understand and appreciate that Deputy McConalogue is an exceptionally busy Minister and that there are an awful lot of other demands on everyone in the Department. All I am asking is for somebody to give an undertaking or to give someone else an instruction to send a copy of the regulations, albeit in draft form, to us tomorrow in order to give us a greater understanding in our preparatory work. We will be back in here on Thursday and, by the likes of it, all next week and possibly the week after. The more we can get co-operation on all sides, including me, work this through and have greater understanding, the better in order that we can wrap this thing up as quickly as possible.