Seanad debates

Tuesday, 6 December 2011

Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Second Stage

 

2:00 pm

Photo of Thomas ByrneThomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

I will start by quoting from the programme for Government regarding legislation and rushing it through the Oireachtas. It states:

While recognising that there may be exceptional circumstances in which debate may need to be concluded by a given deadline, we will restrict the use of guillotine motions and other procedural devices ..... We will also deal with the related problem of legislation being shunted through at high speed and will ..... provide a minimum of two weeks between each stage of a Bill, except in exceptional circumstances.

That is another promise on the bonfire.

The exceptional circumstances are when a Bill is properly debated in both Houses. The Government has made promises and commitments in the programme for Government that it simply refuses to keep. It is absolutely outrageous in a democratic society that legislation is handed to us on a Monday for debate and passage on a Tuesday. It is extraordinary there were no objections from Members on the Government side of the House. If this continues the Seanad will become a rubber stamp. We will simply turn up every four weeks, pass everything through with a rubber stamp and go home.

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