Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

If this legislation is rejected by the Seanad it will cause significant difficulties for the Government and necessitate another day in this House during Christmas week. The sentiment of the amendment may be fine but the fact is that it is entirely aspirational.

One cannot tie the hands of any Government, be it this Government or a future Government, through an amendment like this. At the heart of the debate on this legislation to date is a serious concern about the fact that the funding model simply does not add up. So many changes have been made to the proposal to make it more politically palatable that the basic economic calculations have not been done and there is no indication that anyone has run a slide rule over this to see whether it makes sense. We had great difficulty last week drawing the Minister on the figures he was using and he still has not produced these.

Deputy Martin tried to press the Taoiseach this morning on the issue of the calculations behind all this and he made the point we still have no figures so things do not add up. There is a real concern that this issue will blow up in the Government's face in the not too distant future. Deputy Martin pressed the Taoiseach on the need for independent oversight and regulation of these measures to ensure it all amounts to a viable proposition.

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