Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I sympathise with the Ceann Comhairle's difficulties in managing this debate and will be as brief as possible. I have listened to the debate all morning and am pleased to be associated with the points made by my Labour Party colleagues. The Minister was not in the Chamber when my party leader, Deputy Gilmore, reiterated the conditions and provisions we seek to have included in the Bill before we are in a position to support it. I endorse those comments.

Amendment No. 1, in the name of my colleague, Deputy Burton, is central to our objectives. We wish to improve the Bill, not to oppose it. We want to be in a position where we can support it, but we cannot do so in its current form. Addressing amendment No. 1 will reach to the core of our concerns. For reasons already stated, including the constitutional issue and the competition argument, as addressed by Deputy McGinley, giving effect to this amendment would strengthen the Bill against any legal or constitutional challenge, in respect of which much speculation is abroad.

The Minister should adopt the mechanism for the adaptation and ratification of regulations as set out in section 5, which provides that the regulations be published in draft from, laid before the House and endorsed by it before coming into effect. The Minister has not explained why he reversed the procedure and reverted to the normal one. In regard to the constitutional cases to which Deputy Shatter referred, the responsibility of scrutiny placed on this House under the Constitution means that if the draft regulations were laid before this House, debated in a substantial way and subsequently ratified or amended, they would have a legitimacy that would not apply if the procedure proposed in section 6 is adopted.

For these reasons, I urge the Minister to consider my party's amendments. We want to be able to support the Bill but cannot do so as it currently stands. The markets have been reassured to a certain extent. Deputy Burton's amendment will allow this Bill to be included in the Statute Book, which is sufficient for now to provide the comfort factor we all know is necessary. I urge the Minister to be flexible. We do not necessarily expect him or his departmental officials to provide all the necessary regulations immediately. It may be the case that additional regulations are required as we move forward. We seek substantial regulations to give effect to these measures but they do not have to be the whole nine yards. We are in uncharted waters and new regulations may be necessary at a later date. However, the Minister must move some way to meet us on this issue.

See this speech in context