Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcomed the indication that there was to be a motion on this issue. It is a frustration for everybody in this House. The notion that this is a new type of Dáil with new politics, that resolutions, motions and legislation from the Opposition benches would be welcomed and that everybody would be treated in like manner has not been the fact. I am a member of the Sub-Committee on Dáil Reform which has struggled to get around this impasse or blockage that we all know exists.

The memorandum of understanding is a welcome development, but it is a cumbersome process that was dragged from the Government on the basis of there having to be some mechanism to resolve the frustration rather than having a constant row in the House.

The heart of the matter is the view of the Government that the constitutional provision, which exists in most parliaments, that the main job of the Government to enact the budget for the year cannot be undermined by constant Bills or motions to dismantle the budget. However, that has been extended, as Deputy Micheál Martin said, to any indication of a potential cost that might arise barring the progress of legislation that Members consider sound. We must find a mechanism to resolve this issue.

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