Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

When I entered the House as a newly elected Deputy in 2007, I was quite surprised by the amount of adversarial politics in the Chamber, even when a common sense approach is taken to a matter. I once tabled an amendment to a housing (miscellaneous provisions) Bill to correct a technical error. An incorrect year was referred to in the Bill. My amendment was to insert the correct year but the Minister voted against it. I called the vote just to test the matter. This shows how ridiculous circumstances can be in the Chamber on foot of the adversarial politics that obtain.

The Minister will not accept any amendment from this side of the House this evening. It does not matter what we propose, such is his intransigence on this issue. This is regrettable because he has not been able to explain how the greyhound industry will be exempted from the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill when the commencement order is made. On that basis, I will press my amendment.

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