Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this opportunity. Before I start, I will let the meeting know that we have been informed the closing time for submitting amendments in respect of this proposed legislation is two minutes from now, that Second Stage will be taken next Tuesday and that Committee Stage will be taken on Wednesday. The final version of the Bill has not even been published yet, but we are supposed to submit amendments within the next two minutes. The whole process calls the point of this meeting into question. Unfortunately, this committee is, sadly, contributing to this situation because we are engaging with this process. This is because we are trying to do the right thing. The Department has foisted this fiasco on us. I seriously wonder about the point of even asking questions in this context. I say that sadly, because I think this is an interesting and useful undertaking and it could contribute to the process of producing good legislation if it were dealt with properly. The situation we have now is solely down to the Department. It may be a ministerial position, but it is definitely down to the Department. This is a sad reflection.

The Department has wasted the time of everyone who is present and those contributing via the video call.