Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

The Taoiseach and the Government propose to have a guillotine on this debate and there will be an hour and a half for Committee Stage with 19 amendments having been tabled. This is not trivial legislation; it currently involves a guarantee of €400 billion worth of assets being covered by the State. Few of the amendments will be reached or debated. Contrary to what the Taoiseach stated a moment ago, there has not been any review - or if there has it has not been made available to Members of the House who will be asked to vote on it. There has not been any report on the existing scheme. We have not been offered any guarantee, such as the Taoiseach outlined, that this would be confined to issues of the sort to which the Taoiseach referred. There is no sunset clause on these provisions.

We need to take ourselves seriously as a House. The Taoiseach will come here next week and bleat across the House that every time he comes up with something he is opposed, yet this serious legislation which he has brought to the House will almost inevitably be opposed tonight because most of the amendments seeking the protections that the House wants to debate and have included, if possible, will not have been reached. The Taoiseach must be reasonable with the House. We are attempting to deal with huge changes occurring in our community and are trying to debate them in a reasonable fashion. To be honest, I do not think the Government is interested in this debate. It has an aggrieved sense of self-righteousness. It pushes ahead with everything and dismisses this Chamber as a place to debate these important issues. I am getting fed up with it.

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