Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join in commending Emma DeSouza and her husband, following on from what Senator Ó Donnghaile stated, and urge that we would look at how we can practically support them for the great service they have done in respect of citizens' rights.

I also request that we might have a debate on the budget prior to it rather than simply afterwards, as I am sure many across this House of all parties have a useful input to make before the process as well as wishing to respond to it.

However, the issue I really want to raise today relates to the Order of Business. I propose an amendment to the effect that Report Stage of the Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020 would be taken next week and only Committee Stage would be taken today. I wish to highlight a very disturbing creep regarding the legislative process. I printed out the useful legislative process that is on the Oireachtas website. There are also useful graphs and diagrams that we distribute to schoolchildren. Of all the ten Stages of the legislative process, let us see what has happened with the Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020. First, pre-legislative scrutiny was dispensed with. Then Committee and Report Stages were combined together rather than having them dealt with separately. Yesterday, I was told that no amendments could be submitted on Report Stage, so it is not simply being combined with Committee Stage, Report Stage is being done away with altogether, in that there is no capacity to use it for any legislative purpose at all.

The final insult, and something really extraordinary, which everyone should be concerned about, is that the deadline for Members of the Dáil to submit their amendments to the Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020 was 11 a.m. this morning - before this Order of Business, before Committee Stage and before Report Stage. The Government has simply jumped straight from Second Stage of the legislative process to Stage seven. It is an extraordinary disrespect to Members of both Houses and to the legislative process. I urge the Leader to investigate this issue and to encourage the Minister to show it is not the intention or message of the Government, as it would seem to be, that it has absolutely no intention of listening to or even considering anything it hears in this House. The way the Government can show that is by accepting some of the very reasonable amendments that are being put forward on Committee and Report Stages today. There are 103 amendments to choose from.

This is not about the Government or Opposition. This is not about whether one likes the Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020. There is a mix of views. This is a matter of whether we take our work seriously in this House and whether we take the legislative process seriously. I ask Members to vote with me on the amendment to the Order of Business, and if they cannot do so, I urge each Member to raise this issue at their parliamentary party, because if we allow this pattern to be set now at the beginning of a three, four or five-year Government process - if it is fortunate - we are really setting a dangerous precedent. It is absolutely unacceptable. I also ask that amendments to Standing Orders to reaffirm the normal due process and proper order of legislative practice is affirmed in this House and in the other House.