Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There were no questions and answers and no proper scrutiny. There was one meeting of the committee, where the Minister was unable to answer any questions. I was there on that day. At the next meeting of the committee, as kind of an add-on, all the NGOs were brought in. They were wheeled out to tell us what we were not doing right.

The people who are running this country now are the NGOs. It is a total betrayal of the people of Ireland for the Oireachtas to vote this in without consulting them or testing it in the High Court. I cannot emphasise that strongly enough. This is such a serious issue that it took ten years for the EU to deal with, but we are going to vote it in after three or four days of debate without having any questions and answers, as I have said, or scrutiny. That is bad law-making. It is bad for our people. It is majorly ceding our sovereignty. In my opinion, it is shameful and criminal.

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