Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I am sure Deputies on all sides of the House would like to contribute to the debate on these significant changes, some of which do not go far enough. The short amount of time that is being provided will not give Members an opportunity to outline their concerns about these proposals. It is unacceptable that the Government intends to have all of this rushed through by midnight tonight. We have been given more amendments in recent hours, after the briefing we were given by the Department this morning. It is no way to do business. It will lead to bad pensions policy. The proposed White Paper has not yet been published. We do not know what the Government's overall policy is. The manner in which the Government is proceeding is wrong and will probably cause more difficulty. Fine Gael objects to the taking of this legislation in this way.

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