Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am as confused as the rest of the Members. The optics of what has happened are certainly not good. Many amendments have been ruled out. I appreciate the Ceann Comhairle's position. We adjourned last night in disarray and he had to try to sort this out. I am not questioning his decision at all. He has informed us that several amendments, or up to 30, as far as I could make out, may not be moved. Certainly, the number is in the high 20s. The Ceann Comhairle mentioned that the matter might be dealt with in the Seanad, after which the Bill will return here. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, cut his teeth in the Seanad. I wonder where he is. He is not here tonight again. We all know this is his Bill and that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, is shepherding it thorough like a substitute driver. When the tachograph period runs out, one has to get a different driver to drive the vehicle. One cannot stay driving after a certain number of hours. I do not believe there any laws in this regard when speaking in here. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport could well be here to let us know why he got us into this sorry mess.

Deputy O'Callaghan and others referred to the dog's dinner. I do not believe any dog would even eat the dinner as it now has such a vile taste. While the Minister might have had good motives when he started out, the Bill has just gone all over the place. It is off the tracks and is totally unwieldy. I mean no disrespect to my learned colleague, Deputy O'Callaghan, in saying the Minister's ambition might have been to rein in the King's Inns. That was probably his initial attack but, like a blunderbuss, he has widened it to many areas.

We all know the Minister has been and is holding up the appointment of judges. That was quite public. A number of judges have been appointed in spite of the Minister. To think that he might be holding up appointments considering the backlog of cases in our courts at all levels, from the High Court to the new Court of Appeal, is of concern. Cases are being fast-tracked in many cases, which is very strange. I am not a lawyer or legal expert but I know that while justice delayed is justice denied, justice rushed could also be justice denied. Hundreds of cases were held in a couple of weeks. This could be justice denied. I am quite alarmed. As I stated, we are in uncharted waters or unfamiliar territory. Should the Cabinet not withdraw this Bill and reintroduce it in a proper, structured manner that we would know about?

On the holding up of the appointment of judges, the Minister, Deputy Ross, is the same Minister who accused us of delaying the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill when we were representing our constituents. We were saying it was a mess of a Bill and not fit for purpose. That is all we were doing. We were trying to represent our constituents and point out obvious flaws in the Bill. It may be dealt with here tonight if the Bill under consideration is finished. These are two Bills that the Minister, because of his ego, is desperate to pass in the Houses in some form before he leaves office. This will be his monument. It is some monument and some legacy to leave this kind of mess.

So many amendments have been ruled out by the Ceann Comhairle because of what happened last night with amendments Nos. 6 and 10. While I had a number of points to add on this, I am just so all over the place now that I do not know whether we are coming or going. As I said, one Cabinet Minister should not be allowed to cause this kind of trauma and stress here. Deals were done with various parties to get this Bill over the line any which way, as the former Ceann Comhairle said last night. It is a desperate attempt to keep it alive, get it over the line, and get it into law and out to Áras an Uachtaráin.

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