Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I understand the intention of the Senator's amendment. It rests on the question of whether the phrase "shall have regard to" should be interpreted as requiring the commission to follow whatever advice is given unless there is a compelling case not to. The legal advice that the Minister has received regarding this phraseology is that, where a public body shall have regard to a thing, it may depart from that focus and other such considerations where it has a bona fide reason to do so. As such, an coimisiún is not bound by advice given under this provision. Instead, it is obligated to give it due consideration.

The purpose of this provision is to ensure that an coimisiún does not engage consultants and advisers without the intention of paying heed to their advice. This is prudent, given that an coimisiún will be paying for such advice and commissioning it on the basis of the particular expertise required to inform its decision making. In this light, we are not accepting the amendment.