Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

It is my understanding that Senators hold their seats until the day of the next Seanad election. We can debate it further. It may be an obscure question.

I will use my time to speak more about amendment No. 6. Amendment No. 2 deals with it in part. It is a preferable situation. We dealt with this on Committee Stage and it is clear that amendments can be made to the loan facility agreement. In theory, substantial amendments could be made if all member states were to agree to them. There is a basic democratic need for a vote in the Oireachtas before such a change would take place. It would be preferable for a vote to take place beforehand rather than the retrospective check provided for by amendment No. 2.

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