Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I left the Chamber for a couple of minutes to confirm something I said in an earlier contribution that people who followed last night's debate and are interested in what is transpiring tonight are experiencing a lot of disquiet. Sometimes, when one is a Minister in the Cabinet, one becomes detached from what people are saying on the ground, although I do not say that of the Minister for Justice and Equality. He is, however, making a sacrificial lamb of himself in this folly by standing over something that is not worth standing over. This is a farce and a shambles.

A lot of the Members on my right have been here for far longer that I have been and I always listen to people who have been around for longer than I have been. I am hearing from them and people left, right and centre that this is wrong. I call on the Minister to wake up, smell the roses and realise he is backing a losing horse in this Bill. It has to be withdrawn and if he does not do so today, or tomorrow, it will happen eventually because people will realise he is making a major mistake. It would be prudent and smart to withdraw it, even at this late stage. I plead with him, in the the interests of common sense, to do so. One can have all of the education in the world, but one cannot beat common sense. The people watching are asking what, in the name of God, are we doing and trying to achieve. Why is everybody debating an issue when the Minister who is proposing it is not even here? The Minister for Justice and Equality should demand of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport that he be present to hear our concerns. Every one of us has been elected to do a job and it is only right and proper that the Minister be here to hear the debate.

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