Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

Perhaps it was Deputy Brian Lenihan. The Bill was dealt with in a shoddy manner in this House and in too hasty a manner in the Dáil also, which marked a low point in my time in this House. It is indicative of this Government's increasing disregard for the Seanad and it does not bode well for the future of democracy under the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats coalition. It is not so long ago that Deputy Michael McDowell was running up every lamp-post in Dublin South-East alerting all the minions to the dangers of single party Government. It seems we now have single party Government. The party which was to be the Government watchdog is indistinguishable from Fianna Fáil. Like Fianna Fáil, its purpose is to stay in power at whatever cost, as stated by the Taoiseach on Tuesday, 9 December 2003.

Not so long ago in this House, the Opposition was afforded the courtesy of consultation and matters would be guillotined only with the agreement of the Opposition. There is an air of arrogance about the Government which is epitomised by the attitude of this Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. On his appointment, I had some hope in this Minister but he has let himself down badly. In so many ways he has failed the people. He has failed to deal adequately with gangland crime, to establish a Garda ombudsman, to establish night courts, to deliver 2,000 extra gardaí and he has failed to reform the libel laws. Instead, his answer to every problem seems to be to introduce new legislation. In doing so, he is unrelenting in his efforts to compromise the legislative process, flout Standing Orders and depart from the long-standing practice of affording some degree of courtesy to the Opposition.

I propose to explain the basics of legislation because this Minister, more than any other, needs to be reminded how this democracy used to function in the days when he wrote articles for the Sunday Independent and presided in the Office of the Attorney General.

Article 15° 2.1 of the Constitution provides:

The sole and exclusive power for making laws in the State is hereby vested in the Oireachtas: no other legislative authority has power to make laws for the State.