Vol. 180 No. 26
I move:
That pursuant to subsection 2° of section 2 of Article 25 of the Constitution, Seanad Éireann concurs with the Government in a request to the President to sign the Investment Funds, Companies and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2005 on a date which is earlier than the fifth day after the date on which the Bill shall have been presented to her.
I thank the Senators for their contributions on the various Stages of the Bill. The points raised during debate were followed through and amendments made where necessary. In particular I thank Senators Coghlan, McDowell and Leyden for their participation in this debate and their welcome comments on the amendments.
I thank the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel and the Office of the Attorney General for their excellent work and the time they gave to this Bill. I thank the officials of my own Department who did tremendous work to bring the Bill to this Stage.
I thank the Minister of State and compliment his officials and all those involved in the preparation of this Bill. This important legislation is technical in many areas.
I thank the Minister of State for his conscientious approach to this complicated legislation. I thank his staff and senior officials and civil servants, some of whom I know from my previous experience in the Department of Industry and Commerce, for their input. It is an extremely technical Bill and fortunately the Minister of State is well qualified to bring it forward. He was also open to accepting requests, amendments and suggestions from all sides of the House. This is one of the features of the Minister of State's approach to this House and I place on record my appreciation.
I remember the former Senator Kennedy from Limerick participating in the debate on the Companies Act. It was useful to have an input from other Members of the House. Their input is always worthwhile and it is an excellent way of improving a Bill. The Minister of State has been exemplary in that regard. I thank him again for bringing the Bill before the House and for the way he dealt with this detailed legislation.
