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

I do not accept that there is a query over the years that are being used in the concluding year. We have undertaken significant work in terms of ascertaining what that is. However, recognising that this is an important question, we have also built into it, as one of the amendments that is part of this suite of amendments, a provision whereby it will be done by secondary legislation. Therefore, it does not require primary legislation and the concluding year can be amended by statutory instrument.

We have made this change to address an issue we saw with the particular situation of the county homes but we have also put in a contingency for a situation where there was an issue with one of those concluding years. I have certainly stated that if evidence is presented of a serious question over one of those concluding years, the provision that we are looking to put into this Bill, which allows that concluding year to be changed by statutory instrument, will be used.