Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will not oppose the Bill on Second Stage. I agree with the Minister that Committee Stage will provide an opportunity to debate the provision in some detail because it is quite a long and complicated Bill and it is important that we go through each section to tease out exactly what it means. From the outset, it seems that the Bill is really putting together what is already law and setting it out in a relatively accessible statutory format. Inquiries can already take place but the Bill sets out the procedures clearly.

The Government and nobody else bungled the referendum in October 2011. Historians will look back in shock at it because all parties supported the referendum, which in retrospect was an outrageous proposal to put to the people, notwithstanding the fact that we supported it too, in terms of trying to restrict the rights of people going before committees. It gave people no rights or no recourse to the High Court. The Oireachtas was the sole judge of the committee's functions. It was an act of collective political madness by the entire political establishment. I am grateful to those who pointed out the wrongs of the proposal and the people in their wisdom voted against it. That was a power grab by the Oireachtas and the Government but it was rejected by the public. We must tread carefully on the issue.

The main danger seems to be in respect of politicians grandstanding. I must say that this is what politicians do best. They do it all the time and if they are not seen to be doing it, people wonder if they are doing anything at all. There was grandstanding involved in the Abbeylara decision and inquiry. That was referred to in the Supreme Court judgment.