Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I remember the night in February 2013, as will the Minister, when we were presented with a Bill at 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock at night. We hardly had time to read it and it passed all Stages by 5 o'clock the following morning. Clearly, this issue and other issues were not afforded the kind of scrutiny they would otherwise have been given because the legislation had to be enacted before the markets opened the following morning.

This did not receive the attention it needed to receive. Given that it is the State - the people - that is carrying this, we are really talking about the limits on public services and about extra taxation. The Minister probably knows this better than anybody else. People have every right to see how assets are disposed of. I find it unsatisfactory that there is not more transparency associated with the disposal of the assets and that the supervision is within the Department. The Minister is clearly saying he is not minded to change or establish a committee of inspection.

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