Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

We welcome the fact that the Government has accepted this Fine Gael amendment. A Bill which puts €54 billion of taxpayers' money at risk should not be guillotined and that this type of amendment can emerge in a short debate before the guillotine in the Lower House today shows the pitfalls of rushing legislation and not allowing a full debate on each and every provision. The conflicts of interest and whistleblower provisions in the Bill are very important. This is the type of issue that got us into trouble in the first instance.

The entire project, however, depends on EU approval. The European Commission will pick up any Opposition amendments that the Government has not accepted when it puts its slide rule over the project.