Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I make the point that there are many aspects to be considered in this legislation. I do not believe there is any necessity to guillotine this Bill and shorten the duration of its consideration and time allocated for its debate in the House to the degree proposed by the Government. We have had many commitments about Dáil reform and many fine statements about accountability and strengthening the role of Parliament. Every party elected with a mandate coming out of the last election resolved and was committed to putting into effect real and meaningful reform of how this Chamber operates and of how politics works. I have not seen anything emanating from the Government benches that gives any substance or depth to the issue of Dáil reform or accountability. The guillotining of this Bill is a further illustration and example of that.

See this speech in context