David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment. I certainly do not wish to rehash the argument the Minister and I had on Committee Stage. I have put on record Sinn Féin's opposition to this section of the Bill, which we believe should have been a stand-alone section, but I will not go over that ground again. I wish to make the point on Report Stage that it is wrong for Members and premature for the Minister to be proceeding with this when the expert panel still has not concluded its work and published its report.

The deferred pensioners are not happy with the meeting they had because they were not given the assurances they wanted. The concerns we expressed on Second and Committee Stages are justified and for that reason I will be supporting the amendment and opposing the Bill in its entirety. The way in which the Minister is trying to tack this section onto the Bill is bad parliamentary practice and I do not agree with it. I will be opposing the Bill on that basis.