Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the underlying sentiment of this amendment. We did accept it last year. The issue is that there is a typo in the amendment which refers to the No. III scheme rather than the No. IV scheme. What we are willing to do is to continue to supply these reports on an administrative basis. I give my commitment as Minister of State that they will continue to be produced in the same way they were produced over the last year. It is a good thing to have transparency over the operation of the scheme. We will continue to supply the reports for the fourth scheme as we have done for the third. For those reasons I am not accepting the amendment. As Senator Horkan said, it is critical that we get this emergency legislation completed so that people can get their payments before the winter. For those reasons I am not accepting the amendment. I will, however, continue to deliver the reports that are requested.