Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate where the Senator is coming from in this regard. We are both getting to the same point; we are just doing it in a different way. I accept there are certain items of legislation in which I have repealed and brought forward something new or other areas where we have simply amended older legislation. The reason we have taken this approach is because this was the recommendation in the Tom O'Malley report, which is obviously where this particular section in the miscellaneous Bill has come from. That is the path we took based on that recommendation. Obviously, therefore, to change this particular piece would mean changing a significant amount in the Bill itself and subsequent legislation it applies to. We are going to reach the same objective overall.

My goal really is that we enact this and make these changes that were recommended to me three years ago now at this stage. We should not delay that further, which, unfortunately, it might possibly do, when we are both essentially at the same point. We are just doing it a different way. I agree, though, that there is undoubtedly a broader question regarding updating and codifying our laws. I do not have a single item of legislation or a Bill that is doing that at the moment. Perhaps that is something we need to look at more broadly. It is perhaps something on which I could work with the Senator around ways in which we could repeal and maybe put in place something that is more structured and that specifically focuses on updating and codifying the law. We are getting to the same point but maybe just doing it in a different way.