Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----or show it to us? I made the point today that when I was president of the Teachers' Union of Ireland, every now and then something came up that we could not release into the public domain, but we did release it to the executive members in order that they be informed when making a decision. I am asking for nothing else. The GRECO report will affect this legislation and what the Minister is asking us to do is to buy a pig in a poke. He will get this legislation through the House and next thing the GRECO report will be published and we will all sit back and ask, "My God, how did we let this happen?" The Minister cannot let that happen. He is a decent, honourable man. The very least I would ask him to do is to trust and believe that the Members of this House are decent, honourable people, that we will read the report, that we will not release it if he does not want it released, but that we will be informed as we assist him with the passage of this Bill through the House. No one wants to obstruct the Minister. However, while we will be blamed for passing the Bill if there is something in the GRECO report that we need to know now, it will be passed in the Minister's name. He will be the Minister who will have brought the Bill through the House.

My constituency colleagues have mentioned the Minister, Deputy Ross. Deputy Ross is not the Minister for Justice and Equality; Deputy Flanagan is. Whatever Deputy Ross wants or does not want is irrelevant. He is not here to answer for it; the Minister is. I believe Deputy Flanagan is a decent, hard-working Minister. I ask him to believe that the Members of this House are decent, hard-working people who want to assist him. Currently, however, there is a cloud hanging over this Bill and I do not believe we should allow it pass through this House with any ease.We should frustrate it in every way we can until such time as the Government releases that report. I do not want to be that type of Senator but if that is what it takes, that is what we should do.

Before I sit down, once again, I ask the Minister, has he seen the GRECO report? When did he receive it? Is he prepared to release it before we finish this Bill?