Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I again acknowledge the importance of this legislation. I acknowledge that a sunset clause is coming on 21 February and we have to do something about that. I will say, however, with respect to the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, who has nothing to do with what I am about to criticise, that it is not appropriate to bring legislation such as this to the House and say Committee, Report and Final Stages are to be taken and consideration of the Bill is finished. We were given no time to submit amendments. An 11 a.m. deadline was set for Tuesday, which was before Second Stage. That is not the way to pass legislation, notwithstanding the fact the pressure is on.

I say all the time that when we have amending legislation, it is illegible to an ordinary citizen because the references to the legislation being amended mean a person might have to have two, three or four pieces of legislation before him or her to understand what is being said. I would much rather a situation whereby a section or Bill is repealed and replaced with the entire text so that the person reading the legislation, be it a Member of these Houses or a member of the public, has a clear picture of exactly what the Bill is doing. That is absent from some of the wording in this legislation, including where there is reference to the amendment of the principal Act by the removal of one word and the insertion of another. It requires quite a lot of work to understand what that is actually doing. Given the might of the draftsman's office within the Department and the Office of the Attorney General, it would be far better to include the proposed amended section so everybody can read what is proposed. It is not the first time I have said that. I do not anticipate it will happen anytime soon but it is worth making the point in the context of amending legislation, which is quite important.