Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

On that general point, we want the Bill to be passed and the Minister to have the powers accorded therein. I have made numerous complaints on the Order of Business and in the media about this issue, that the Minister for public expenditure and reform who essentially controls the deficit has no statutory powers and that it is very important that this Bill is passed. On a practical basis, most Members will try to study the legislation and may try to put together amendments. They will try to do a serious job of work in this regard, not by raising irrelevant matters but by debating the most important elements of the Bill and trying to improve it as best they can.

The original schedule of business indicated this legislation would be debated on Wednesday and Thursday, which I considered reasonable. I would not have a difficulty with this or declaring that the debate be limited to three or four hours, as long as Members have time to get through each section and amendment. I do not agree with the proposition that one can speak forever and, personally, I have no problem with the use of the guillotine. However, I do have a problem with declaring on Monday, just after the legislation had been printed but before it had been sent to Members, that it would be taken on Wednesday afternoon. I had received an invitation, for which I was grateful, from the good people of Bellewstown, County Meath to officially open their school this morning. However, I was obliged to leave that function early because of this Committee Stage debate. My point is that Members have commitments and are trying to juggle everything and do a good job. It does not reflect either good governance or public service reform that the first act of the Minister for public expenditure and reform is to state that instead of doing what the programme for Government indicates, time will be provided between Stages of Bills taken in the Dáil and the Seanad, this Bill will be taken on a single day, even though the Opposition was informed only a day earlier that it would be taken over two days. That is unacceptable and Fianna Fáil is laying down a marker in this regard. The Government can use the guillotine which was used by the previous Government, although I note the Government parties then trenchantly opposed its use. I did not fully agree with them and still do not, as there is a role for shortened debates and the use of the guillotine.

On this section, the fact that it comprises a list of Acts for the purpose of definitions highlights some of the Bill's main anomalies and problems. The Bill is not, in fact, a housekeeping measure, as Senator Ivana Bacik suggested; rather, it proposes a massive transfer of powers and responsibilities from one Minister to another without listing in detail what these powers and responsibilities are. In section 10 it provides that any statute, in so far as it relates to the administration of functions transferred by subsection (1), in so far as it relates to the functions of the Minister in sections 7 and 8, is transferred to the Minister without stating what these powers are. While many other Acts are being listed, the Bill also states that if there is anything else the Minister for public expenditure and reform should be doing, that power also is transferred to him or her. That is not a good way to do business and the Bill is a rushed job. Its purpose purely is to facilitate a division of responsibilities and powers between Fine Gael and the Labour Party in the Department of Finance which I believe is one of the few mentioned in the Constitution and, therefore, has a special role. The Minister for Finance is required under the Constitution to be a Member of Dáil Éireann and is thereby given special status in the legal system and the nation. The special status and responsibilities of the Minister for Finance are much greater now in the current economic climate, despite all the talk about the loss of economic sovereignty. The Minister for Finance has a huge role and huge decision-making power, much of which has been transferred to the Minister for public expenditure and reform. It is not acceptable that this should be done in such a generalised and rushed manner.