Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Bill had gone through the Dáil and it had not been noticed that anything was wrong with it. The Dáil had already gone into recess and the point was originally picked up by the then Senator, now Deputy Shane Ross, that polls could be released at midnight before the election. That would have meant there were three weeks without opinion polls and then at midnight before an election television stations, radio stations and newspapers could announce there had a been a big swing, for example, from one party to another. At approximately 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. at night the Leader of the House telephoned the Minister who told him to drop the Bill. It had gone through the Dáil but it was too late for it to go back to be changed and the Bill did not reappear.

I remember well that a second Bill came through the House, the George Mitchell Scholarship Fund Bill, that had gone through the Dáil. It was a very worthy Bill enabling people to come from North America to study peace in Northern Ireland. The Bill stated that they should be allowed to spend money "in this State". I pointed out to the Minister at the time that surely if they were going to study that they must go across the Border. He said that was not possible but then he changed his mind and accepted the amendment. The Bill had then to go back to the Dáil to be changed. They are two minor instances in the past but they happened in the Seanad after the Dáil had passed the Bills. It seems to me that the Government has pledged to reform politics but the abolition of the Seanad is most definitely not reform. If we take a day on which the Seanad will be abolished we will not have a balance and a second opinion on legislation.

I will give some examples which relate to me because they are matters with which I am familiar. In this House in recent years I have been able to introduce a ban on passports for sale. The Minister accepted the Bill but decided to introduce his own Bill. At least I achieved my aim. The Dáil had never introduced such a measure. I introduced a Bill on presumed consent for organ donation, which has now become law in Wales. I gather the Government is now considering the matter but it is taking some years. The initiative did not come from the Dáil; it came from the Seanad. Last year, I introduced a Bill on work permits. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, said he understood what I was doing. He accepted the Bill on Second Stage but said he would incorporate it into his work permits legislation later on this year. I also introduced a Bill on defibrillators, which the Minister accepted. I hope it will become law soon.

None of those Bills was initiated in the Dáil. They came from this House and one person in this House. I also introduced a Bill on construction contracts, which as the Minister of State is aware, we hope will become law next week. However, I am not sure that is the case any longer with what is happening in the Dáil but I hope the Minister of State will convince me that the Bill will become law.