Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We provided some nine hours of debate on the legislation, which has been well flagged and detailed to the Dáil. Yesterday, several hours of debate were spent on one point. When the Minister of State, Deputy Ann Phelan, flagged it to the Opposition, well in advance, she made it very clear that additional amendments would be introduced. A debate on it and on the Long Title of the Bill took place, as required. The Government, in allocating nine hours of debate today, is seeking to provide the kind of time for debate which the Opposition Deputies indicated yesterday that they desired. I am surprised the Opposition Members, who were clamouring for an amount of time to debate the legislation, do not seem to want it now.

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