Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this amendment as, for the first time, it enables witness summonses to be issued. However, it demonstrates the ludicrous position that this committee is in. It is a valuable amendment and a necessary addition to the law but if the Opposition had proposed that amendment it would have to be withdrawn on the basis that it is a charge on the Exchequer. We will have to re-examine this rule about what is or is not a charge on the Exchequer, and what are the rights of the Opposition in this regard. Reading through the amendments that have been ruled out of order as a result of this long-standing and now outdated rule, our capacity to make meaningful amendments to this Bill is severely restricted.