Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I thank everybody for contributing today and on the previous debates on the Bill. In response to Senator Tuffy, it is emergency legislation and almost by definition, one's chances of wide consultation on it are slim. This is emergency legislation to deal with an emergency because, as matters stand, we have no effective and workable mechanism in place to prevent illegal immigration to this country. The emergency will continue as long as the proposed legislation is not passed. It is preferable to have a longer time to debate legislation, but the fact that it comes under the emergency heading, which we have to do occasionally, does not necessarily mean it is bad legislation anymore than if it was debated for five or six months. The Aliens Act 1999, the predecessor of this Bill, was debated in both Houses for approximately five months. It was considered exhaustively, but it was found to be defective by the courts. I agree with the Senator's main point that we need to consult widely and that is why the very extensive consultation process for the more extensive immigration Bill, which I hope will come before the Oireachtas next year, is already underway.

Senator Terry stated that the Bill introduces radical changes. I do not know where the Fine Gael Party stands on the issue. On the one hand, Members complain that the Bill only restates the laws on the Statute Book, the amended Aliens Order 1946, and should have gone much further but, on the other, Fine Gael spokespersons say the Bill is going much further. The Government's intention is to put what was in secondary legislation into primary legislation, to put it in the Statute Book to satisfy the requirements of the High Court judgment in the recent case of 22 January 2004. In doing so, we have made those changes that we found it possible to make in the short time available to us. For example, we have taken out some of the more offensive terminology, which is now a relic of history. We have made a few very minor changes to the Bill. As I said, it would be ludicrous to get into the more radical changes about which we are now consulting before the consultation process had taken place. If we were to make extensive changes at this stage, within the short time available, that would be extremely risky. The most substantial change from the old system is that provision is being introduced into Irish law to enable the charging of fees for immigration services, which is fairly non-contentious.

Senator Terry said that disregard was being shown for the Seanad. I come here quite often to deal with the minutiae of legislation, and I have the highest regard for this House. How the House manages its business is essentially a matter for it. I do not want to get into a major debate about how time is taken up in the other House by people who are calling for more time to debate legislation. I do not want to be contentious on that matter today.

Once again, I thank Senators for their contributions. It was mainly as a result of contributions made in the Seanad that the Bill, which one hopes will be passed by this House today and sent to the President for signature, is better than that with which we started off. That is the function of Parliament.