Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

These measures will come in shortly. The Oireachtas has been put under pressure to satisfy the diktats of the International Monetary Fund. It says very little for Irish sovereignty if our legislative process is dictated by a deal entered into by the former Government and re-endorsed by this Government. The Dáil is sitting until 21 July. The introduction date for these measures is 2 July, a time which I accept may suit employers and payroll organisation. However, it could easily be introduced at a later date such as 2 September. We cannot allow our social welfare policy to be decided on by some arbitrary figure picked out by the troika or this or the former Government to satisfy a crisis in the euro. This Parliament should be sovereign enough to decide when it will apply such measures in its time. It is madness that when this legislation is passed by the Seanad, it will be enacted three days later.

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