Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Guím beannachtaí na Nollag ar an gCathaoirleach, ar an gcléireach, ar an gcléireach cúnta agus ar gach duine eile sa tSeanad freisin. Tá súil agam go mbeidh Nollaig shona ag gach duine.

Unfortunately, with the run up to Christmas there is always rushed legislation which usually makes, it has to be said with the precedence that has been set over the past few years, bad legislation. I listened to the debate yesterday but did not take part in it because my party Whip asked me not to for a number of reasons. However, today I shall very much participate on Committee Stage.

The Minister did not table any amendments. Therefore, I appeal to my Independent colleagues, who gave conditional support to this Bill, voted for it and ensured its passage, to consider this. I heard Senator Quinn say he was very concerned that amendments should be looked at and accepted. We have reached a very difficult stage for the Senator because the Minister has not put forward any amendments even after listening to the debate.

Yesterday, the Minister made great play of changing "may" to "shall" in terms of holding the plebiscite. If I understood Senator Mac Conghail correctly, the change of wording was a factor for him. In my view the change was the greatest example of political bait and switch that we have seen. The mistake was so obvious that it could be spotted by anybody who read the legislation. It enabled the Minister to say he had listened and has changed the legislation. That wording was always going to be changed and was a deliberate error included in the legislation in order to make it look like the Minister gave something back.

Let us look at the reality of what has been promised. I tabled two amendments that I wrote and my colleague, Senator Wilson, has a number of other important amendments. My amendments attempt to deal with the difficulty the Seanad has in terms of proposing a constitutional referendum. I have proposed that the public water forum would produce a report on the holding of a constitutional referendum, something like the Constitutional Convention. I also discovered a significant flaw in the plebiscite proposals. They only refer to the sale of shares or shares in Irish Water.