Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. He has an extremely important role, for which he is well capable of, in the Department of Health. It is a waste for a good Minister of State to be sent into the Seanad to discuss a technical Bill on the funding for the Oireachtas for the next three years. I wish him well in his main role and hope that he accepts my comments in the spirit that they are directed. Another Minister could have done this job for the Government while the Minister of State could be going about important work at the Department of Health.

This is mainly a technical Bill to keep the Oireachtas funded for the next three years. That job must be done. It is a pity, with all of the talk of Oireachtas reform, that there is no one all encompassing Oireachtas reform Bill to take account of funding and accountability in terms of the public's acceptance of how the Oireachtas is run. There is a view that the public should be thankful for the Oireachtas but Members must earn their respect. One way of doing so is to have an overall reform Bill that would regulate how we run ourselves. There has been a lot of spin on reforms that have taken place within the Houses but no reform has taken place. For example, the guillotine is being used more than ever.