Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I think it is a disgrace and an insult but it is actually the way things are going to go, and that is fair enough because the Business Committee is a joke and a waste of time because the Government does not have to pay any attention to it. I am glad the Government is actually being honourable now in not paying any attention to it and going ahead and doing what it wants because that is what it set out to do anyway. For that reason, I oppose the Order of Business because I think it is wrong here. I hope we will not continue on with the fake Business Committee where the Government fakes the idea of the consultation with the Opposition. You can say what you want about that, a Cheann Comhairle, but that is actually what happens. The Government dictates the business in the Business Committee. When it suits the Government and it is put under pressure here in the Dáil, it will say the Business Committee decides it. Unfortunately, all of us in the Opposition go along with that to make it look like it is important and that the Business Committee means something when it actually does not mean anything at all.

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