John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. I agree with my colleagues, Deputies MacSharry and Niall Collins. A significant number of us are not being given the opportunity to contribute inside the new rules and regulations of the House to any of the debates. I have sat here for hours in every sitting and have had no opportunity to ask the questions I wished to ask. I believe the people I represent in Carlow-Kilkenny are being deprived of an input into the democratic process. I wrote to the Ceann Comhairle regarding the formation of a Government and I believe we should be having a debate here. I cannot see any reason why the three main parties, if they put the country first, cannot have a Government to take us through this crisis. I am serious. Members have a right to have an input and, with respect, I look to the Ceann Comhairle to protect the rights of Members. Members' rights are being largely trampled upon, not by the Ceann Comhairle or anybody else, and we are not having the opportunity I referred to previously. I ask the Ceann Comhairle please to review the requests made to discuss the issues of the day and to give as much opportunity as possible to those of us who have been locked out.

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