Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There has been concealment and deception and it is wrong.It is all motivated by a desire to slip things through so as to satisfy the ego of one person in a hurry. That is what is happening here.

What I want to say to the Deputy Leader here today, through the Chair, is that even if Committee Stage finishes next Monday, in the hours allocated for it - and nobody has filibustering on this debate, even though speeches from the Minister have been quite lengthy, I have noted - if there are to be Report Stage amendments, these must follow a decent space of time, in which we have time to consider what happened on Committee Stage and have time to prepare proper Report Stage amendments. It is utterly wrong, especially in view of the rules of the House in respect of Report Stage amendments and the manner in which they are debated, to say to us that this House will have a matter of hours to do its homework and have it in to the Bills Office.

The other point is that the Bills Office deserves some consideration in this regard. It is a hard-working body, which serves this House very well. It works and assists the Members of this House in doing their work well. It will, however, be inundated with work on the conclusion of Committee Stage. It is fair that it should have time to carry out that work properly and it is fair that Members of this House should have the opportunity to prepare their amendments properly as well.

I do not see why we should have No. 1 decided without debate. I would like to hear the Deputy Leader's assurances about the time that will intervene between the end of Committee Stage and the beginning of Report Stage. I would like to hear her assurances on this point. This is another deceitful effort to brush this issue under the carpet, to say there will be no debate and to force us into a situation where there is not sufficient time to consider our Report Stage amendments.

We therefore must oppose the Order of Business and must oppose the arrangements for Monday. We have to waste time again because we are not being told the truth. I note RTÉ can see the GRECO report and while a Minister could come in here and warn Senator Craughwell that he would be disappointed by the terms of the GRECO report, when we see what RTÉ has broadcast today, it is no disappointment. The only disappointment is how a shabby attempt to deceive this House has come off the rails. If this is going to happen, all of the consequences fall on the Government. I was a member of the Fine Gael Party and I can tell the House that never in the past did it abase itself to one person in the way it is doing now. That party should be collectively ashamed of themselves for what they are doing.