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

I support this amendment. The last day of a session is always one in which things can be pushed through. I do not think any of us expected to be sitting here very late tonight dealing with a very contentious section in this legislation and the very least that could be expected is that there would be a sunset clause in it. The Government has a majority and the question it must ask is: does it trust itself?

Including this amendment in the legislation would at least mean there will be time for reflection and a review within a time limit that will allow us to deal with some of these aspects in an urgent manner. This is a very reasonable amendment and I hope the Minister will accept it. There are positive provisions in the legislation, but there are also provisions that we are rightly concerned about. As someone said earlier, it is highly unusual that every Deputy who spoke drew attention to the same issue with which they have concerns. How can that fall on deaf ears? I hope the Minister will accept this amendment.

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