Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Government's U-turn in allowing this debate today. Earlier in the week, the Government published a schedule indicating that this would be taken without debate. I issued a press release at that time stating that the practice for the past ten years has been to refer it to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform for a detailed discussion on the issues after which it should come back to the Dáil for a final vote.

However, on this occasion the Government intended not only to prevent the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform from discussing the details of it, but it also intended preventing the Oireachtas from discussing the matter. The Minister of State seems amused, but the schedule of business the Government published on Tuesday and Wednesday had this without debate.

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