Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

Fine Gael fully supports the Labour Party Bill, which contains provisions that reflect issues detailed in the all-party motion passed by the Dáil on 12 June. Many of the issues addressed in the Bill are those that Fine Gael insisted be mentioned in the motion. They would not have been included had we not pursued the issue with the Government in the lead-in to the debate on the motion.

As I spoke at length on the Ryan commission report, I will confine myself to the Bill, events that have occurred since the report's publication and issues that the Government has failed to address. Our party had been prepared to afford the Government some reasonable time to implement the motion's provisions, but it is six weeks since the publication of the Ryan commission report.

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