Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I ask the Tánaiste to reverse the order of the Bills in the sensible manner I have suggested.

I also draw attention to the arrangements for next week. By my count, there are 12 proposals involving a guillotine. Four of the items of legislation the House is being asked to deal with next week are entirely new and have not appeared before the House thus far. Two of the Bills have yet to be published, one of which deals with the forthcoming referendum on the Lisbon treaty. Among all of this, 90 minutes will be allocated next Tuesday for the debate on Committee, Report and Final Stages of the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009 which has far-reaching implications for the criminal justice system. Whatever Members' views on its content, 90 minutes is hardly sufficient time to allow the degree of scrutiny a Bill of this type requires.

It is not unusual that we find ourselves in a position at the end of a Dáil session where the Government is using the guillotine to push through legislation, either to get it out of the way or to minimise the amount of public attention it will receive. However, on this occasion, it has taken the use of the guillotine and the ordering of business to a new level of ridiculousness.

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