Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

Deputy Catherine Murphy referred to the fact that in his day, the then Minister, Mr. Michael McDowell, introduced amendments to a Bill that amounted to five or six times the size of the original Bill. I have no problem with that. I conceded at the outset and during my contribution that I was not totally in charge of everything, nor did I want to be. It is my effort on my behalf with the support of my colleagues and staff to put forward in my humble and best opinion a way to deal with the problem. I was open to amendments. The Minister could have accepted the Bill and referred it to committee. He could have made all the amendments in the world to it.

The Minister indicated that he thought I might be overly protective or upset at changes but that is the last thing I would wish to do. I tried to achieve a balance. I consulted widely and to the best of my ability. Some of the people contacted me. I referred to some of the groups. I do not have the PR spin doctors and researchers that are available to the Minister. Under the auspices of the legal services Act he has appointed his friends to a number of quangos. He created 49 jobs in one hour. He should replace the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, because he is quite enterprising when it comes to his friends in the legal service. He has done well from the legal service - more power to him. However, one must be sympathetic to ordinary people who are trying to avail of legal services too. It is not law and justice for the rich, the system must be fair to everyone.

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