Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Leddin. It is very important and not just to the town of Shannon but obviously to south-east Clare. A bus service has recently been put on between Killaloe and Ennis and I am interested to know exactly what the numbers are because many more people travel from Killaloe to Limerick daily and have done for a very long time. If we are talking about new rail links, there was once a railway station serving Killaloe and Ballina. There was a spur from Birdhill on the Ballina side. Maybe it is just a pipe dream that something like that could be reimagined.

On a more fundamental point, I think most Members in the Chamber believe it is a good idea that this be included. I was a Government backbencher once and I know what it is like, but there is something really wrong with the way we do business in this House if most Members think something is a good idea yet we cannot vote on it or do not want to have a vote on it because the Whips are on and whatever. Would the Government fall if this were included in the Bill? Is that the stuff Governments fall over across Europe? Of course it is not; it is a nonsense and it is a nonsense in this Chamber in 2023. To be very clear, this is not meant as criticism of Deputy Leddin or the Minister of State, but it is a nonsense that this is how we do business in 2023. Everybody thinks something is a good idea but it cannot be really moved or voted on because somebody loses the whip and then people say "Oh my God the Government is going to fall". It is not going to fall on something like this, or I daresay any single amendment in this Bill. Governments do not fall over stuff like that, so why can we not just have a proper debate and proper votes on legislation? That is what we were elected to do. Most people can read and write now. There might have been a time when Members of this House could not read and write, but most people-----

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