Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Section 149 originally provided for a full review of the 2015 Act with the exception of Part 8, which falls under the responsibility of the Department of Health. Through Government amendments tabled in the Dáil by me, this review will now include Part 8, which has been agreed with the Department of Health. This was an important broadening of the capacity to review and reflected issues that arose during the debates as well as engagements with representative groups.

I understand that this amendment seeks to provide for an inclusive and robust review. However, it would have the unintended consequence of restricting a review to only the matters stated. The review provisions must be broad enough to address whatever issues may arise in the operation of the legislation. The amendment also seeks a review every three years after the initial review period. This would not be considered normal practice for legislation, which is reviewed on a periodic basis by Departments and Ministers as a matter of normal business. Subsequent revisions can be identified through normal business practices and engagement processes between stakeholders and the broader routine monitoring of legislative functions that all Ministers and Departments undertake. Therefore, I am not able to accept this amendment.