Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

This Government should be utterly ashamed of itself for what it is doing and the way in which it is trampling on the democratic process. At the best of times, huge numbers of people in this country have little respect for politics and for this institution. What the Government is doing, contrary to the promises it made prior to taking office, is bringing this institution into further disrepute. If there was any hope for conventional politics, it is fast disappearing down the drain because of the utter, deliberate, manipulative and smug cynicism that accompanies the way this Government does business, particularly in the last six months or so. Government Deputies smile as they ride roughshod over what should be proper democratic oversight and scrutiny of legislation that will affect pretty much every citizen in this State and which will impose further suffering on hundreds of thousands of families who cannot take any more. The fact that the Government will not allow this legislation to be discussed and debated properly or allow Deputies from all sides of the House to put forward amendments and alternative proposals is utterly shameful.

The Government does not want a proper debate on this Bill for the same reason it did not want a proper debate on the original Bill before Christmas and does not want one on the Water Services Bill, which will be guillotined next week, namely, that its claims that it is fair and progressive would not withstand any serious examination or scrutiny. The Bill is not fair nor progressive. It is cruelly unfair and seems designed to be so. Despite the fact that this has been debated a great deal on the national airwaves and questions have been asked repeatedly by the Opposition, the Minister refuses to answer the most basic question about this Bill. How will people who are not able to pay their mortgage pay this tax?

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