Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is the Acting Chairman's right to believe that. However, this proposal has been made in the context of the political reform agenda. It is only right and proper that I take the opportunity to inform the House on the public record and by association the vast majority of the public and the electorate of the failure of the Government to live up to many of its commitments to the public to create what would be known as a political revolution based on the agenda the Government parties had pursued prior to coming into office. As I have said, it has failed dismally. I hope the Committee Stage of this Bill in its own right might be the catalyst for the Government eventually entering into real engagement about what might be seen as political reform.

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