Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join in the Christmas greetings and good wishes to the Cathaoirleach, the Clerk and all the staff who have been so helpful to us throughout the year. Senators Mooney and Norris referred to the guillotine. I do not like the use of that word. It is not what the Leader intended at all. In fairness to Senator Mooney, he was not attempting to be hard hitting, nor was Senator Norris. They know that given the agreement between us on the issues - the Senator mentioned the Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill as one instance - the timeline laid out by the Leader is not a guillotine at all. There will be plenty of time allocated to talk those things out. This House has a very good tradition of not having what might be referred to as a genuine guillotine. I think that was only brought into operation here once in the past term. We get on with our business constructively and happily and a good job has been done by this House. Long may it be so. Best wishes to everybody.