Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

We have considered Senator Mullen's amendment, but, unfortunately, we will not support it.

I say "unfortunately", because Senator Mullen brings a good knowledge to the debates in here. There is a tendency among Ministers to dismiss utterly anything that comes from this side, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has shown a slight tendency to do this today. That is unfortunate and we keep seeing it.

There was a serious deficiency with the amendment as originally proposed. Luckily enough, there was much media commentary about it, because frankly, the Houses did not have enough time to discuss the matter. As we rush through this legislation, we cannot be sure that something which might arise is being adequately dealt with here.

The Minister did not answer the question I asked on Second Stage.