Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The scrutiny is not completed until we have finished and agreed a report. Every member of this committee is entitled to table amendments to that report and have them duly considered in the normal way. To be fair, the Chairman is upholding the rights of members in that respect. We have that right and no report can be agreed until those amendments have been adjudicated upon. To answer Deputy Pearse Doherty's point, if an independent impact assessment concludes that his Bill will have a negative impact on interest rates, mortgage lending or the availability of credit for small and medium enterprises, I will not support it progressing to Committee Stage. That is the reality. That is why I want this report done. Whether we deal with it now, on Thursday or next week, my position is that an independent impact analysis should be completed before the decision is made. I do not care when we have that debate but I believe my position is very reasonable. The question that must be adjudicated upon is whether we want to waste two months and do nothing. I am proposing that the committee agree today that an independent impact assessment get under way as soon as is practicable. That is what we need to agree today.