Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I very much appreciate what the Tánaiste has said and I look forward to the debate but perhaps we might just have a modicum of democracy about it. Would the Tánaiste not present the discussion paper in the House before it is actually presented to us as a fait accompli in legislation so we can actually have that sort of discussion? I know it is a radical suggestion that Parliament might actually discuss these matters in an open way. Obviously the fundamental questions will be determined by Government and it will bring back legislation, but I would welcome that. In truth, the Tánaiste has accepted we need to radically reform the management structure. We will find out in other amendments how radical he is going to be. After the events of recent days, the notion that the Tánaiste will actually have legislation enacted in the lifetime of this Dáil, no matter what he says, is problematic. The Tánaiste is not going to have the debate he is talking about, the presentation of proposals to Government, pre-legislative scrutiny, and the enactment of legislation in the time we have left in this Dáil. Since I will not be a Member of the next Dáil, I would like to have some input at least into the discussion of what might emerge. I hope the Tánaiste would take this as an interim measure and accept it, as there is nothing overly radical in it, and at least indicate his own proposals in outline and when we might have some debate about the proper structures.

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