Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I welcome our visitors to the Gallery. Like Senator Norris I am delighted we have a sign language interpreter with us today. It was also very good to meet yesterday with so many representatives from the Irish Deaf Society and the deaf community and to hear the concerns so many of them have about the potential watering down of the Bill through the Government amendments.

I wish to speak about amendments Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive. First, I want to clarify the issues around the amendments. Yesterday morning at 11 a.m. we were all circulated by the Leader's office with a proposed list of Government amendments. I have them here on my device. We could all see them and go through them and many of us met with the Irish Deaf Society, we heard their concerns about these amendments and came in here today understanding that those would be the amendments we would be debating. At 5.15 p.m. we were circulated with a numbered list of 13 amendments from Senator Daly. We now learn that quite a number of those amendments have been ruled out of order by the Leas-Chathaoirleach. It was really frustrating and unacceptable practice, with respect to the Leas-Chathaoirleach that we came into the Chamber, having been circulated with two sets of amendments, to find no amendments there and half an hour into a two-hour debate we are finally supplied with a paper list of amendments - and I thank the usher for passing it around - which turns out to be just Senator Daly's 13 amendments. There is a lack of clarity about what happened to those proposed Government amendments. If they have been withdrawn I am glad that they have been withdrawn. However-----