Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

No, Mr. Scrooge's sister-in-law.

We have to face up to the fact that this is an unusual Parliament. The Government is in a minority. The will of the great majority of Members of this House is for this legislation to be passed. I dare say that when the Bill is brought before Dáil Éireann the will of the great majority of that House will be for it to pass. Why resist it? If the Government has problems with any part of it, why not put down amendments on Committee Stage in Dáil Éireann and see in the Committee and Report Stage debates if the Government's arguments stand up and whether a majority of the Members of that House agree? The Government should stop obstructing what is clearly fair and just legislation. That is my appeal. I am not saying that the Minister personally has an animus against workers or anything like that. I have been a Minister. This refusal is innate departmental conservatism. Departments do not want anybody else's legislation. They want to come up with their own. I did this myself in my time.