Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome everybody in the Gallery this evening. I extend the same warm welcome to anybody who is watching at home. If I were watching on and not a Member of this House, I would find what is happening confusing. I just want to explain to people the reason we are talking about very technical amendments at this stage of the progress of the Bill. Perhaps those watching did not hear the previous debates. It is important to explain that we are permitted to make only minor changes to the legislation at this late stage. For anyone watching, that is because of the rules of the Dáil. Only the Government can make decisions that result in the additional spending of public money. If we had submitted amendments to include, for example, people who spent fewer than six moths in an institution, those amendments would have been ruled out of order before we got to this late stage in the debate. It might seem a bit confusing to anyone watching on and who may be asking why we are not talking about those important issues. We would love to be talking about those issues and have done so previously but in this moment, it is not possible. Standing Orders are failing people in that sense. The Government obviously has the power to change those things and it is not yet too late. This is its last chance.

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