Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To pick up on the last point, Deputy O’Callaghan is well aware that there are problems in the Bill. He admitted that on Second Stage. It is not a case that there might be issues, there are issues, as recognised by the person who moved the Bill. That is the very reason for a legislative process, with Committee and Report Stages, when amendments are put forward to rectify problems.

If there are issues with legislation in the eyes of the Government, it is the responsibility of the Government to propose amendments on Committee and Report Stages. That is why Bills do not stop on Second Stage. It seems that if they did, many more Opposition Bills would be passed. At the moment, they go into a black hole after Second Stage.

I understood we were changing the way we do politics in the Thirty-second Dáil. That is clearly not the case. It is very disappointing and downright insulting to the committee that a decision which was supported by all members of the committee, including Fine Gael members, is not being upheld now. The Fine Gael members in question are rocking up in here today to say we should have pre-legislative scrutiny, but no such case was made when we decided to take Committee Stage today. It is cowardly to support legislation on Second Stage only to block it when the time comes for amendments to it to be debated on Committee Stage. The whole point of the amendments is to improve the legislation and perfect it as much as possible. It needs to be improved, as Deputy O'Callaghan has recognised.

It would be preferable if the Minister and her Government colleagues were to vote down legislation on Second Stage, rather than pretending to support it only to show on Committee Stage that they are not really supporting it. Such an approach to legislation is not good for politics, in my opinion. I remind Deputy Brophy, who has described the Bill as "deeply flawed", that the Minister does not share his view. If the Deputy's view is that there are so many issues with the Bill, he should have voted against it on Second Stage. It is very irresponsible to allow a "deeply flawed" Bill to pass Second Stage and move on to Committee Stage.