Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)

Not agreed. We have seen an extraordinary abuse of the parliamentary system in the past few weeks in the Chamber. One item of legislation after another has been guillotined. In many cases, it has been unnecessary. In other cases, there has been no time to read the amendments, given the entire period of time allowed for debate. The planning Bill is a case in point. This practice leads to bad law and denies the House the right to keep the Executive to account. I hope the Ceann Comhairle will assist in the next session, seeing as how the new Government Whip has failed to fulfil his promise to use the guillotine sparingly, which was the intended use of the guillotine in the first place. Under the Ceann Comhairle's guidance in the next session, I ask that we consider how to change the rules of the House to prevent this abuse and ensure that the House can keep the Executive to account.

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