Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

First, I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate her on her appointment, as I neglected to so do earlier.

This is a fundamental issue. If one considers section 2, Senator Thomas Byrne has rightly raised the number of Acts that the Bill will affect when enacted. It is a broad section which means that, unquestionably, this is not a housekeeping Bill.

I appreciate Senator Ivana Bacik's comments regarding her disappointment and that of her colleagues about the manner in which the Bill has been dealt with. However, the question as to who was responsible has not been answered. Was it the Minister, the Government Chief Whip or the Leader of this House whose responsibility it is to order its business? Who requested that the Bill be taken on a single day? While the Minister for public expenditure and reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, expressed his regret in this regard earlier today, who made the decision?

When first published, the Bill was 23 pages long, but it has doubled in length. It is now complex legislation that deserves proper scrutiny and Members will do their best to do this today. It is all the more disappointing, as I believe the Bill has the support of the vast majority of Members, including my party grouping, that it could not have been dealt with in such a way that would have allowed its proper scrutiny. On the basis that, as Senator Thomas Byrne has noted, this pertains to the Minister with responsibility for public sector reform and that complete disregard has been shown for this House and its functions on the Bill's introduction to it, Fianna Fáil Members intend to oppose this section.