Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That legislation is being put through the House right now. Some of the Deputies opposite serve on a committee of which I, too, am a member. They suggested we enter pre-legislative scrutiny. The Ceann Comhairle will know that extensive charts were prepared to illustrate how long it takes a Bill to go through pre-legislative scrutiny before a committee such as that on which Deputy O'Rourke and I serve.

It showed the minimum turnaround time was approximately eight weeks. That timeframe would push the Bill into August when the House will not be sitting. Therefore, the Bill would be delayed until September at a minimum and probably October. How are we supposed to put through a budgetary measure in a tight timeframe to benefit every household in the country under that proposal? One would only propose it if one is playing politics, which clearly is what the Deputy is doing.

I get very frustrated when I hear Members opposite claim they did not have an opportunity to scrutinise this legislation. There were questions put by the Deputy to representatives of the Department and his questions were answered. He stated in the House that he had unanswered questions. In fact, he did not ask any questions that were unanswered.

See this speech in context