Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

Ultimately, Dáil Éireann has two hours in which to discuss all stages of this Bill. Members have very little time for scrutiny as a result of the decision by the Green Party and Fianna Fáil to guillotine the legislation. This Bill spent a great deal of time in the Seanad without being much amended by the Minister. However, he has introduced a whole raft of amendments this evening to which he has given little time.

Consequently, I call on the Minister to focus his comments and contributions to the content and context of his amendments and to what Members on this side of the House are saying. He should move away from the divisive approach he has taken on this legislation since he inherited it from previous Ministers. This comes down to producing simple legislation and the Minister has not answered the query I raised initially. Where stands the greyhound industry on 2 January, if the conditions to which the Minister referred last Friday are implemented? Does the greyhound industry still remain within the remit of the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill 2009 and if not, because it is not specified in the Bill, by what means will it be incorporated into the 1958 Act? These measures will result in an outcome that no one wants, which is that the Irish greyhound industry will be governed by two legislative items, namely, the amended 1958 Act and the Bill before Members today.

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