Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

-----and protects the Constitution.

The Government has published a record number of Bills this session. We have initiated a significant number of Bills in the House. When Bills are initiated in the House and they go to the Dáil, if the Minister accepts amendments the Bills come back to this House. Thankfully, the number of Bills being initiated in the House are on the increase. When I first became a Member of this House years ago we were lucky if one or two Bills were initiated in the House in an entire year. Last year 30% of Bills were initiated in the Upper House, the Seanad. That is to the betterment of the legislation.