Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I am unhappy with the Order of Business, in particular the taking Report and Final Stages of the Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill. We had a very long debate on that Bill yesterday and last night at about 9.30, we learnt that the Report Stage would be taken today. I urge the Minister to reconsider that. I do so now with much more strength, taking into account what Senator Brian Hayes has just said about the OECD report. This is not the first wake up call. That organisation gave us a wake up call two years ago when it said that all legislation passing through these Houses should undergo a regulatory assessment so that we could assess its impact on our economy. The Government approved of that and last year, following a White Paper, both the Tánaiste and Taoiseach announced that all legislation in future would have a regulatory assessment.

Yesterday we had the Committee Stage of the Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill on which there has been no regulatory assessment. The Minister accepted no amendments other than Government amendments and by his tone and body language, if not by his words, gave the impression that any amendments he would accept would be taken in the Dáil. That is not the respect and esteem in which we should hold ourselves and we should not take Report Stage today. We should give the Minister of State time to have that regulatory assessment carried out. Even if it is not a full regulatory impact assessment, it would be easy for civil servants to tick off boxes and indicate that the legislation will affect certain areas.

The Bill leads the way in setting up standards in Ireland that are higher than anywhere else in the world. It is a form of legislation that no one else is introducing, yet we hope to attract business and entrepreneurs into Ireland to create jobs and wealth. This legislation is not being given the proper attention, however, although the Minister of State is clearly saying that he will devote time to considering it before it is introduced in the Dáil.

I urge the Leader not to take Report Stage of the Bill today, but to defer it to a later date when the Minister of State will have had time to consider the amendments tabled yesterday by Members on this side of the House. We had a healthy debate on Committee Stage, but the Minister of State made sounds – I accept that he may not have used the actual words – which indicated that it was not his intention to accept any amendments today. I urge the Leader to reconsider.