Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

I welcome the completion of the passage of the Bill through the House. It is important that we have dealt with an issue of safety that was highlighted as a result of the controversy surrounding the development at Corrib. Some good has come out of that sorry saga. I thank the Minister of State for his openness in accepting amendments. That approach is to his credit and has improved the legislation.

The only offence I took to the Minister of State's remarks is that he thought we on this side of the House might use the word "bureaucratise". That is not a word that comes from this side of the Chamber. The large volume of legislation coming through from the Department is to the credit of all, particularly the civil servants involved. However, it has led to a type of practice which has not, in my experience, been the norm in the past and is not the intention of the process itself, whereby at each Stage, including Report Stage, new amendments are being introduced by the Minister. The recommittal process was most unusual in the past but is now becoming the norm because of the productivity of the Department.

I offer the Minister of State the warning that this is not a good way to produce legislation. I recall one instance where the name of a Bill was changed twice as it made its way through the House, along with major changes being made to its content by the Government. Our job is to scrutinise, but we cannot do so if Government amendments are put forward without sufficient time for consideration. It is great to see the Department's enthusiasm, but at the end of the day, if one runs too fast one will end up falling. It is important that we take our time over all these matters.

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