Shane Ross (Independent)

I must confess to a certain degree of surprise at the way the motion has gone because when I spoke to Senator O'Toole in the corridors about it, I felt a certain indifference to it because I thought it would be, as is normal in the case of Government motions, a lap of honour for the Minister. Everybody in the House knows that when the Government takes this time, it congratulates the Minister on something fairly innocuous, an extremely dull debate follows, a vote does not take place and that is the end of the matter.

To my astonishment the motion is opposed by the Opposition but the penalty points system is the finest measure the Government has introduced since it came into power.