Mary Henry (Independent)

I welcome the Minister to the House and I thank him for his very clear explanation of the amendments before us. I am one of those who feels it would have been better if the Minister had rewritten the Bill – to see why, one needs only compare the size of the original Bill to the number of amendments. The House would have given the Minister the necessary time. We are very quick workers around here as the Leader has us on a very tight rein. We must leap along. The Minister says people must keep up with his pace which, I bet, we could have done.

I am irritated by the way these amendments have been brought before the House and I hope the Minister notes the dissatisfaction among Senators of the Government parties in this respect also. Over the last few weeks I have received a couple of lectures from the Minister and one from his Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, regarding the supremacy of Parliament. These lectures pertained to my proposal that remedies be provided before the courts for those whose social and economic rights are abused. The Minister and the Minister of State informed me that Parliament had to be supreme and that the courts could not be allowed to bring forward rights of that nature. The manner in which this Bill is being brought before the Seanad today is not respectful to the House and it fails to acknowledge the supremacy of Parliament.

We could easily have got through the Bill if the Minister felt it was urgent. I have no argument with a great deal of what is contained in the legislation and there is not a huge number of Senators interested in the question of immigration. Had he requested it, the Minister would have received co-operation from all sides to allow him to put the Bill through. Despite Senator Walsh's comments, the Bill has not been examined properly in the Dáil and the same is to be true of its passage through the Seanad. It is very difficult for us to explain to people why we have agreed to such legislation when we have had no opportunity to discuss it or to hear further arguments on points we wish to raise. It is regrettable and unhelpful to bring legislation before the Houses in this manner.