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

Once the Government had the numbers, the tone completely changed in terms of the Business Committee, guillotines, and how we do business in the House. It matters because that changed the nature of the debate in the House and was, I believe, a big mistake. The Dáil does not have control of the agenda; the Government has taken control of it.

It is for those and a myriad of other reasons that it seems as if many of our public services are stuck together with sellotape. There are a myriad of failures and by no objective analysis could one say the Government is doing a good job. I wonder whether the country can afford this Government, considering some of the decisions currently being made. The waste is appalling.

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