Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Like my colleagues I oppose the guillotine as we have opposed guillotines on other legislation. This guillotine is more serious because of the number of constructive amendments from all sides, including the Minister, that we wish to discuss. We will not reach them.

Yesterday and today the Minister said we were wasting time. The parliamentary procedure allows us to go through amendments, some of them vital. Reference was made to a discussion about the legal title of the organisation. If we cannot even get the legal title correct, how will we achieve the changes required for an Garda Síochána and get them right? One of my major points is that the amendments the Minister has tabled, some in response to the Morris tribunal's reports, are substantial yet have not been referred to the Human Rights Commission or the Garda Commissioner. I say that because the amendments go to the heart of human rights issues. There is an obligation on the Government to refer all legislation with human rights implications to the Human Rights Commission. I accept that the commission examined the Bill, but it did not know what amendments the Minister would produce.

On another point, the Minister has tabled more than 70 amendments. I did not manage to count them all. We will not get through the majority. We probably will not even reach the amendment co-authored by the Minister and me. It is a minor amendment but we will not get to it, which is a pity.

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