Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Surely, what the Minister of State has just said there is so wrong I cannot begin to explain how angry I am at his comments. The Minister of State is aware that the term Teachta Dála means messenger of the people. The people send their Deputies to the Dáil to do a job of work to represent them and their interests. I have no problem whatsoever in democracy working to its fullest extent if a majority of Deputies on any day vote one way or another on any issue. That is 100% okay, is beautiful and is democracy. What the Minister has just said there is so undemocratic. He is saying that we are putting this in place to bypass and minimise the amount of input that can be there from Deputies. He wants to silence backbenchers of any party supporting the Government, to ensure that their hands will be tied so much that they will not know whether they are sitting on them handcuffed or where their hands are but they will certainly not be doing their job which is representing the people. The Government has come along with this whole proposal, has wrapped it up and packaged it in such a way as to silence the future public representatives, whoever they are and from whatever party they belong. This is so wrong and when the public realise what it is doing it will certainly not thank the Minister of State or his colleagues for doing it because it is fundamentally wrong and he cannot stand over it.