Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senators Bradford and Healy Eames on tabling the amendment. I note Senator Bradford stated it was mainly for discussion purposes, but it is a very important issue for Members of the House. We all know the Minister inherited this issue and it has been going on for decades. We all know the reality is Deputies do not want Senators functioning to their full capacity. They think if Senators are to function to their full capacity they can bloody well pay for it themselves and they will not facilitate them in carrying out their constitutional duties as Members of the Oireachtas. Along with the other Whips in the House I put my signature to a letter calling on the Minister to rectify this situation.

While I accept, as Senator Healy Eames stated, the Minister is minded to resolve the difficulty, he is being prevented by doing so by somebody. I can only imagine if I were fortunate enough to be in his position and I was minded to do something which was legally possible I would do it. Since becoming a Member of the House I have been amazed by Ministers, primarily from my party, stating he or she would like to do something and to leave it with them but one never hears from them again. If they would like to do it they should go and do it unless it is against the law. If there is a difficulty in doing this the Minister should tell us what it is, and that we will not get it because he does not want to give it to us. It is akin to being a member of a swimming pool with 166 or 168 members able to dive in at the deep end and swim to the other end without any difficulty while 60 members, who are told they are equal members, have an arm tied behind their back and a weight on one of their legs.

On 4 October the people of the country, against the wishes of the Minister and his colleagues, decided the House was to remain. It was to be reformed but it was to remain. We are here now whether they like it or not because the Irish people decided we are here. We are not looking for more money and the least we can expect is a level playing pitch on which we can carry out our duties constitutionally without being impeded. If the Minister is minded to do it he should go ahead and do so this evening before he goes home.