Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Immediately after the Order of Business we are to take Committee and Remaining Stages of the Aviation (Preclearance) Bill. Unfortunately, no time has been provided between Committee and Report Stages for this Bill. Many Senators know this is a very important space between Committee and Report Stages, which provides the opportunity for the Minister and officials to reflect on some of the amendments and arguments put before them.

We have some very important amendments and perhaps I am pre-empting the decision of the Minister and his officials. Perhaps he will accept all our amendments, although experience here would suggest otherwise. The response from the Leader might be that we cannot delay Report Stage until next week because the Bill is due in the Dáil at that time. I suspect the Bill is due in the Dáil next week because it can be taken at that time; if we required an additional hour next Tuesday, it would not be the end of the world in terms of timing. There is no urgency in that regard. I propose an amendment to the Order of Business today where we would only take Committee Stage and have Report Stage next week.