Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As Deputies will be aware, it was the intention on the Order of Business yesterday to have this process seen through without debate, but the Labour Party sought a debate on it. Normally, when somebody seeks a debate, it is because he or she has an issue and wants to raise certain concerns, but that is not the case on this occasion. On the Order of Business yesterday there was no report available to us at the time. We were asked to agree to a proposal without any visibility of it and, because of the nature of this Dáil, the Labour Party is not represented on the committee. The Minister who was present in the Chamber was not in a position to throw any further light on it because he had not seen the final report either. Deputy Brendan Howlin said that, in the circumstances, the safe thing to do, to allow agreement on the Order of Business for today, was to allow time for debate on the matter, if necessary. It was my intention to come into the House today and say at the outset that we had seen it, did not have an issue with it and that there is no need for a debate. Having seen the report from the committee, we are happy for the motion to proceed without major concerns. On behalf of the Labour Party, I congratulate the Chairman and the two members of the committee who spoke, who have studied the matter and done the work required to bring us to the point we are. I understand the process, having been on previous committees, in terms of what is to be done in respect of subsidiarity. The Labour Party is happy with the opinion of the committee which was outlined in detail by its Chairman, Deputy Maria Bailey, and we have no concerns. We are, therefore, happy to support the motion.

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