Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

Originally I was to have seven minutes to speak but I am delighted that I now have 20. Many of the Deputies on this side of the House do not get much time to speak and we relish any such opportunity. There is certainly much to say on this issue.

The first aspect of this Bill to which I wish to refer is the delay. Other Deputies have spoken about this and I will do so as well. It is 14 months since the Supreme Court rejection. The Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, introducing the Bill on Second Stage, stated "It is regretted that, due to the detailed and complex nature of the issues involved and the need to consult with a broad range of agencies and interests, the drafting of this Bill has taken longer than anticipated."

At the end of the summer recess my colleague and party leader, Deputy Sargent, in the interests of North-South co-operation and the east-west dimension following the British-Irish Agreement, asked that the House should sit in line with the UK Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, etc. and once again the Government decided to take early holidays. In January, the same occurred. There were two months of legislative time when we could have been working. Unfortunately, we did not get that opportunity. The work could have been done sooner and we could have debated it, but unfortunately time for dealing with such issues is not allocated.

I do not accept that it is a drafting issue. It is an issue of trying to find space within the legislative programme to discuss it. The last time we had a chance to speak on the Bill was on 30 March, almost a month ago. That is because of the logjam of legislation and the preponderance of statements on various issues which the Ministers feel compelled to spend a day debating such as yesterday's motion on accident and emergency services by the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. That is not good legislative practice or good Government. If we had more time——

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