Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister knows, I raised this issue with him some time ago. I have been concerned about it because it will have a devastating effect on businesses along the west coast. When I look at Connemara and the number of families who depend on craft shops to make their livelihoods over a few months, I see the disaster that this year has been because, even when it opened up, the kind of stock held by the shops was not really for Irish tourists and much of it had been bought for non-Irish tourists.

I have expressed time and again my dissatisfaction with Bills coming into the House, in particular very important Bills, where we are up against the wall for time. I believe we often spend too much time before we bring Bills to the House and way too little time when the Bills are in the House, when we are actually dealing with the meat of the Bills, with the details, with what will go into law and what will stand. The idea of having Committee Stage and then having Report Stage where Members cannot resubmit amendments from Committee Stage to Report Stage is wrong in principle, unless it is emergency legislation that could not have been foreseen.

Brexit has been foreseen for a long time. As I said when I spoke on Second Stage, many people in Europe and in Ireland went into denial about the British decision, instead of saying that they have had their referendum and made their decision, that we accept the democratic right of the people of Britain to make that decision, and that now we must prepare. I cannot understand how it has happened that this Bill has come into the Dáil with so little time for discussion and no time to do the thing I think we all learn in the seat the Minister is in, that is, it is a good idea when something comes up on Committee Stage, when the Minister sees the validity of an argument, to say he will reflect on that and come back on Report Stage.

That is not practical because of the configuration in the Dáil with regard to the time that has been set for this Bill. A practical suggestion was made that an undertaking would be given to look to introduce an amendment to deal with the issue between now and the Seanad debate. It is fair to say Department of Finance of officials will always take the negative side of everything. For a lot of things in this country, if the Government had willy-nilly accepted Department of Finance proposals, we would not have had very brave and innovative things that were thought up over the years that went against the dead hand of advice, but are now lauded as great ideas. I cannot see why it would not be possible to reflect on this issue and to take the time before the Bill goes to the Seanad to listen and cogitate on the validity of the arguments.

In a previous Dáil, as I am sure the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will recall, we dealt with the Gaeltacht Bill 2012 and, again, it was scheduled under the same system.

It should not have been rushed. There was no emergency about it. It was foreseen but, for some reason of scheduling, it was decided to proceed with Committee and Report Stages in one sitting. I am proud to say that I organised a walk-out in total of the Dáil that day. Some Deputies, I suspect, did not really know the reason they were walking out. We were walking out not because of the manner of the Bill but the principle of taking all Stages in one session and not allowing engagement on Committee and Report Stages.

I know it is unusual for somebody in a Government party to speak in these terms but for years I have felt passionately about the time towards the end of the session when issues that were foreseen for years suddenly become rushed and the most important function we have as elected representatives gets put aside. Governments say they would like to take suggestions on board and Ministers sit in their seat and say they wished they had more time to consider an issue but they cannot because they have been told that it has to be passed by the House in whatever time. I hope that the Minister of State will give a commitment to reflect on that and if it cannot be done in the Dáil because of the rather bizarre arrangements in terms of this Bill, it could be done between the Dáil and the Seanad. As the Minister of State knows, if an amendment to the Government amendment was passed by the Seanad, it would take five minutes for it to get through the Dáil. In fact, it could be done on the same day the Seanad passed it. That is not an excuse. We have got many sitting days until the end of the year to get this right but to rush into it and get it wrong could do a great deal of damage to people who are already on their knees and suffering terribly after this disastrous year. We know already that next year will not be a good year for tourism and it is fair to say that 2022 might not be a good year either. As a result, hitting tourism with a double whammy at this time is not a good idea.

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