Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Nobody else's contribution was circumscribed so I will say what I want to say. The person of whom we speak is box office so they had to come in, all guns blazing, to defend this and that was totally inappropriate. I would speak much more strongly if I could get away with it but I will pick my words. It is disingenuous to accept the word "advisable" while, on the other hand, going against an entire report because en blocthey have decided as a party not to support it. My party colleagues, Deputies Cassells and Aylward, and I do not decide en blocwhat to do and I have not seen this happen in any committee in 15 years here. It is fundamentally wrong. I have great time for the Minister and I praised him in the House yesterday, as I have many times for his good actions through the years, but he must be losing some of his match fitness because it was an own goal to call for the head of one constitutional committee of the Oireachtas and to level abuse at the integrity of all people on the committee, including Fine Gael members. If they really feel as they say they do, why do they not resign from the committee?