Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I empathise with the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Dea, because he is carrying the can for the Minister. Equally, the other Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Brian Lenihan, was in a similar position the week before last when the legislation was introduced. On previous occasions, when the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform introduced legislation he spent time discussing the issues with Senators, as did the Ministers of State. It is notable that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform stayed away when the Seanad was being treated very badly. Even Senator Mansergh commented that it was frankly unanswerable to rush the legislation through the Seanad because there was time available before it went to the Dáil for a more considered debate.

I reluctantly walked out of the debate. I like dealing with amendments as I believe the Opposition can make a difference. The Labour Party tabled 29 of the 40 plus amendments, yet only 20 to 30 minutes was allowed for the debate on those amendments. I noted that the Leader of the House and Members on the Government benches tended to blame the Department for the manner in which the legislation was dealt with, but whereas the ultimate responsibility rests with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, we order the business of this House and it is up to the Leader and the Members on the Government side to say "No" and to refuse to deal with legislation in that way. Deputies did so in the Dáil and I do not see why we cannot do so in the Seanad. The fact is that amendments were dealt with in the Dáil in a different way from here, although there were still complaints. Obviously, I welcome the acceptance of the points made by the Labour Party.

Difficulties arose with the previous legislation because of the way it was handled. It is possible that a case could be made that the constitutional requirement to deal with legislation in a particular way was not met in this case due to lack of time. The Department and the Minister need to think about that point.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has mentioned several times that comprehensive legislation will be drafted. That is needed because emergency legislation is problematic. There needs to be adequate consultation on the proposed legislation so that everybody has an input to it. The Labour Party has no problem with legislation to control immigration, but we believe it should be fair and there should be a positive system for economic immigration. I hope that will be provided for in the legislation.

I hope there will be a comprehensive consultation process and that the different points of view are accommodated, leading to greater understanding. The representatives of immigrants groups have to be consulted properly so that they too are assured of a reasonable and fair system. It will be easier to deal with racism and other issues if everybody understands that the system is fair.