Ivana Bacik (Independent)

To respond to Senator Darragh O'Brien, as I said on the Order of Business and Second Stage, I agree with him and his colleagues that it is less than ideal to have all Stages of a Bill go through the House in one day. I have raised this issue at meetings of my parliamentary party with a view to ensuring it does not recur. As the Minister said earlier, he, too, regrets that this is happening. Unfortunately, it is a matter of timing; it is essential that we get the new Department up and running for the sake of good governance and the reforms we all support. The Minister has pointed out that this is a technical Bill which makes provision for the establishment of his Department, and I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, will say the same. We will have more time to debate the substantive issues in this House. The Leader has already allowed additional time tonight to debate the Bill, until 8.30 p.m., if necessary.