John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What the Minister, Deputy Doherty, is saying now, in her absence, amounts to a rowing back on her commitments given on Committee Stage. We were told the paper was ready and would be presented at sub-committee level, and hopefully at full Cabinet level, before Christmas but now we are being told it is being pushed back to a sub-committee on 18 January. As she had indicated previously that it would be presented in November, this already means it will be three months later and it has not been published. I changed my amendment to reflect a commitment given by the Minister. The previous amendment was to hold Government to a three-month timeframe for the report, which has been finalised. We were told a comprehensive analysis of the data, paper and computerised, had been done but now we hear Cabinet confidentiality put forward as an excuse. It was the Minister who gave the rock-solid assurances that, if Members withdrew their amendments, she would bring it forward before Christmas.

I will push my own amendment and support the other amendments. As Deputy Curran said, the Minister's reputation is now on the line. My patience is starting to grow thin. Maybe I am naive but I have given her the benefit of the doubt as a new Minister who seemed sincere. However, the timeframe is starting to drag on and the amendments have to be pushed.

See this speech in context