David Norris (Independent)

I concur with what my friend and colleague, Senator Alex White, stated on this issue. Before continuing and given that the Senator did not receive notification that his amendment was deemed to be out of order, will we find that other amendments have been ruled out of order? Perhaps we could be advised. These are idiotic rulings and they place the Seanad in a position of contempt because it is insupportable to claim that the Seanad should be precluded from discussing particularly relevant sections simply because of some archaic notion that we should not be trusted with the public purse strings. The crowd that has been in charge of the Exchequer for the past while is in no position to cast stones against the Seanad, which has a responsible view in these matters.