Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Let us be clear about one thing. This House has sat long and hard to consider this legislation. It sat on a Monday, which is very unusual. The only reason that was proposed was the internal imperative in the Government to assure one particular member of the Government, to the greatest possible extent, that this legislation would be dealt with before the summer break.That is the only reason. The only reason for the fall-off in voting is that Members have engaged in pairing arrangements because they are sick and tired of the long hours allocated for the taking of this Bill without breaks, or half-hour breaks for meals, imposed at one remove by dictate of a member of the Government who demands that the Bill be dealt with as a matter of urgency, which it is not. It is not a matter of urgency that it be dealt with now. It is, of course, a matter which requires our attention in detail. The Minister is fraying slightly at the edges at having to deal with the detail. In that context, I ask him to refer to section 19(1)(f).