Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Government proposes to guillotine the Defamation Bill after a 60-minute debate. Four guillotines, in effect, are being proposed on the Order of Business today. Arguably, there is no need for a guillotine on the Twenty-Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Treaty of Lisbon) Bill 2009, which could be passed without the use of the guillotine. I do not see the necessity for the guillotine there. I believe too that in the ordering of the legislation it would be better for that Bill to be taken first. I do not anticipate there will be a long debate required for it, which would allow a greater amount of time for the Defamation Bill.

There are 33 amendments for Report Stage of the Defamation Bill, including six from the Minister, but the Government has only provided 60 minutes for the debate. This Bill was published three years ago almost to the day, on 7 July 2006. It was in the Seanad for two years and was brought to the Dáil in May 2008. It finished Second Stage in the Dáil on 14 May 2008 and the Government took nine months to bring it before the committee. It was not until the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform discovered the issue of blasphemy as a possible political issue that he showed any great urgency in completing the legislation, on the core principles of which there has been general political agreement. Now, he wants to complete the Final Stages of the Bill in 60 minutes. That is not an acceptable way to do business and the Labour Party is opposed to it.

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