Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)

I am well aware of its seriousness. Where are the rural Deputies who will support the Government on this proposal today? They too should appreciate its seriousness.

I am glad the Acting Chairman reminded me that the reason we are in such a rush today is that the Government is guillotining the debate. That is a disgrace. The Acting Chairman has pointed out how serious these proposals are. Yet the Government is guillotining the debate at 1.30 p.m. I was pleased that Deputy Mary Lou McDonald used her time this morning to try to get the answers from the Tánaiste which we failed to get from the Minister yesterday. Unfortunately, she did not succeed. When Deputy Martin Ferris sought answers, as he was perfectly entitled to do, he ended up being thrown out of the Chamber. That too is disgraceful. We are all here to represent the people who voted for us and we are merely seeking answers on their behalf.

I hope, even at this late hour, that the Minister might have a change of heart and inform the people of the information we are seeking on their behalf. I thanked him on Committee Stage for providing an answer to my question in regard to the registration fee, which, we are told, will be a once-off charge of €50. However, nobody knows who will be in what position next week, never mind in several years' time. How can the Minister assure the people that there will be no requirement to re-register and no additional fee? Once the system of registration is in place, by way of this legislation, who can say that an additional financial burden will not be imposed on people in the future?

The Minister did not answer our questions in regard to the inspection standards that will apply. It is not good enough for him to say that tanks must be working. He may not be in control at a future date when some new directive dictates that a new, higher standard will apply. The Minister or his successor - whoever is in office at the time - might have absolutely no say in the matter. By forcing people to register now and to reach a standard that is not yet defined, the Minister is opening them up to being slapped with higher charges at any time in the future. We have seen EU regulations being foisted upon us and Governments putting up their hands and saying there is no choice in the matter.

In regard to the guillotining of the debate, we were initially told that, in the absence of this legislation, the State would be subject to fines from the beginning of February. Thanks to Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív and those working with him - we did not find it out from the Government - we now know that the Commission has clearly stated that the fines will not kick in until the summer. As such, there is no reason that the debate must be guillotined today.

These are the issues of concern to people. If the Minister thinks he did a proper job yesterday and gave adequate information in response to the questions he was asked, he is greatly mistaken. I ask him again to tell the people the facts and exactly what is proposed by way of the provisions that will be railroaded through later today. He has failed in an extraordinary fashion to do so. A person of his experience should realise that it is much easier to answer a question at the beginning rather than fudging the issue and engaging in bluff and bluster. He should have set out the facts months ago.

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