Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Once again, well-established custom in the House is being ignored for a purpose. The purpose is to cut short the democratic process in this Dáil. The process of a proper Second Stage where the Minister would outline step-by-step each provision he is proposing, then on Committee Stage flaws in the proposals could be debated, with the Minister and Deputies coming back on Report Stage with amendments, is being cut short by the Minister.

In Parliament it is common to have three Stages in a Bill. I know the Minister is relatively new in the job but there are good reasons for this. The purpose is first, on Second Stage, to have a debate on the principles of the Bill, and have them outlined both in principle and then section-by-section by the Minister. Then we have the Committee Stage. Very rarely, both in my experience on the Minister's side of the House and on this side of the House, have I seen proposals brought into the House and teased out properly on Committee that do not require amendment. We then have the Report Stage where both sides take time to reflect on what happened since Second Stage. I suggest the Minister should consult his colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, Deputy Coveney, on how he handled the Animal Health and Welfare Bill, with all the changes he made having listened to Deputies on Committee Stage. The Minister then comes back on Report Stage having reflected on what has been said, as did the Deputies concerned.

The Government seems to have made a clear decision that if it were to do that in this instance the process would be too drawn out, allowing that there is meant to be a fortnight gap between the various Stages and it would result in too much debate. In other words, the Minister could not stand the heat in the kitchen and he decided not to do this the proper way.

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