Jillian van Turnhout (Independent)

I second the amendment. The members of the Independent group feel extremely strongly about amendments Nos. 1 and 3. I will not reiterate what my colleague, Senator Mac Conghail, said but I must point out that there are no guidelines for Independent Members. The guidelines we follow are the same as those which apply to political parties. We are, therefore, interpreting those guidelines as existing for us. We only obtained said guidelines on request. "Accountability" and "transparency" are the buzz words which are in vogue at present. In that context, we are of the view that Independent Members should be dealt with under the Bill, which relates to political funding. Thus, it is our view that it is the appropriate place in which to indicate how Independent Members should be treated. That is why we put forward the amendment. In the aftermath of the amendment we put forward on Committee Stage not being accepted, we have tried to ensure that amendment No. 3 is now in line with what it is hoped to achieve via the Bill.

We ask our colleagues in the House to support amendment No. 3. As Senator Mac Conghail stated, we will push the matter to a vote unless the Minister can provide some assurances to the effect that this matter will be dealt with in another way.