Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is outrageous to propose that the House pass a motion without debate when it could result in flaws in the banking inquiry. We held full debates on the establishment of the banking inquiry and the Government side is now proposing to amend the motion that established the inquiry. The motion should be the subject of a full debate in the Dáil because it is related to the previous motion discussed in the Houses. I presume the other House will have a full debate on the proposed change.

The amended motion should also be added to the Order Paper and Senators should be allowed to vote on it. We should not only vote on a single paragraph of the motion on the banking inquiry but on the entire amended motion. If the Government side succeeds in passing this motion, the entire revised text must be placed on the Order Paper. This is a big "if" because if Independent Senators vote with the Opposition, I am not sure the Government will succeed in its anti-democratic endeavour. I concur with the comments made by Senators on this side. The proposal is outrageous and, if it succeeds, it will not be the end of the matter because the Government side will still have to put the amended motion to the House.

There have been disgraceful and outrageous scenes around the House in recent days, including privately, as Senator MacSharry noted. Many Labour Party and Fine Gael Members have privately expressed shame about what has taken place. I am pleased to note a statement by one Government Member, Deputy Dominic Hannigan, on LMFM radio that he was ashamed of the way in which the selection process for the banking inquiry has been handled. The Deputy added that the Members who had been selected could do a very good job and the current membership should not be changed. It appears, however, that Labour Party Senators are determined to do whatever the Taoiseach wants them to do.

One of the motifs of the referendum campaign on the future of the Seanad was an argument that the Government was showing a dictatorial streak.