Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

A raft of legislation is being guillotined because the Government is coming to the end of its term of office. It is not allowing proper scrutiny of legislation, nor is it allowing this Parliament to function effectively. We already know to our cost what happened when the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform rushed legislation through the House and had to return this week with emergency legislation, because the Labour Party pointed out the flaw in the original. There is a real danger we will end up in the same situation with regard to another area of law.

There have been seven guillotines this week. Because the Government proposes not sitting next week, eight guillotines are proposed for the week we return. It is not correct parliamentary activity to continually cut off the work in which we engage, which is to ensure legislation is robust and fair.

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