Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I understand the predicament the Ceann Comhairle is in. When he called the Minister, I believe the Minister was baffled and was looking for his paperwork. He had got to his feet but had his head down looking at his paperwork because he was not expecting to be called. A representative from the Rural Independent Group was here and I was on my way up trying to get in to the building. I left Leinster House when the previous speaker was called. That gave me 22 minutes of speaking time to get from Leinster House to here. I got here in about ten and could have penalty points for it because I drove so quickly to get here on time. I arrived in the time slot written down on estimated times given to us for our group. Deputy Boyd Barrett was speaking before us and I was here for the Rural Independent Group. Other Independents are also here to speak in the slots they were given. We are told to turn up for our slots and we do so. Deputy Boyd Barrett was speaking and I made it here in time. Now the Ceann Comhairle has made a ruling in the middle of it. The Minister was not ready to respond and he did not respond.

I know the Ceann Comhairle is a fair person and I know the ruling he has made but, on a point of fairness, we are caught between two buildings. From the point of view of health and safety, we try to make sure we have enough distance between us and we stay out of this room. We are downstairs. From downstairs to here on the stairs or the lift takes four minutes. The Ceann Comhairle rings a bell here and it is an eight-minute bell and he has-----

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