Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Acting Leader to ensure that when we come back in the new year, we will not be bullied by the Government into ramming through legislation in the manner that has been happening this week. I know I am pushing an open door with this request. It should be one of the main resolutions of Members on all sides of the House. The guillotining of legislation in the last week before the Christmas and summer breaks has been going on since I became a Member of this House. It was an even greater feature of the approach to legislating of the Government I represented in this House. It is unfortunate. There is a clear mandate from the people of Ireland for the existence of this House. If we are to exist in a meaningful way, we should be prepared to tell the Government when we are not finished with legislation that we want to take the time to debate it properly and amend it if necessary. It is not good enough that the deadline for submitting amendments should pass before the Second Stage debate starts, but that is what we have seen again this week. The Government wants us to get our amendments in before the deadline, even though it has no intention of looking at them, because it sees us as a rubber stamp. It is not fair on the Leader, the Cathaoirleach, the staff or, in particular, the Members of this House. It should stop. We should make a resolution to that effect when we come back.