Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Like others, I express my strong opposition at the use of the guillotine by the Government today on the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill. It is very disappointing to see this procedural device being used by a Government that swore it would not do it. It committed itself to new politics. Its members in Fine Gael have not only been unsupportive of the Bill, they have also expressed criticism of its provisions, many of which we have debated in the House. We have made the point that they are unconstitutional and will, if passed, lead to unwieldy and deeply flawed new processes for appointing judges. We are opposed to the imposition of the guillotine. I, therefore, propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that instead of taking the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., we have the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in the House to resume the debate on transport as we ran out of time the previous day the matter was debated. I was one of the Members who did not get to contribute on that occasion.