Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle) | Oireachtas source

The idea of a Private Members' Bill is that Members rather than parties have a right to introduce legislation. This procedure worked well when we were allowed to call speakers as they indicated, irrespective of whether they wished to speak for two minutes or five minutes. It is wrong that the House is going down the road of ordering everything. Private Members' Bills are not about the Opposition and Government having their say.

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