Elisha McCallion (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 4, between lines 36 and 37, to insert the following:

"(e) The Minister shall, before prescribing a fixed penalty provision in regulations under this section, recognising the emergency nature of these regulations, consult with and seek approval of a majority of the members of both Houses of the Oireachtas.".

This is getting ridiculous. There have been two occasions in one day where, because of the way legislation is being shoehorned not just through this House but both Houses over the past few weeks, we have identified major problems in a Bill. We are expected to give our trust to the Minister to deal with these matters. These amendments seek that any further regulations would come back before these Houses, which is absolutely essential, given the calamity we have already seen today, with a former Attorney General saying the legislation is as useless as an ashtray on a motorbike. Earlier, the Data Protection Commission indicated the legislation relating to the mother and baby homes had similar issues. These Bills will affect millions of our citizens and we are expected to entrust the Minister with further regulations, given what we already know are significant holes in the legislation.

The proposals we have made in these amendments would mean further regulations would have to come back before these Houses. It is imperative we allow that to happen. I implore the Minister of State to give serious consideration to this and the other House to be allowed to oversee future regulations arising from this and other legislation.

Given what we have just seen, we must be mindful of our staff in the Oireachtas as well. The staff in the Bills Office, which are involved in this process of producing legislation, are under huge pressure. Independent Senators have correctly said they do not have the support of parties and they are trying to get through all this legislation. We have clearly identified a major problem in the way we are trying to legislate with this. If we do not agree the two amendments, which would allow us the space to properly scrutinise regulations arising from this legislation, it will bring shame on all of us. I ask people to give this serious consideration. This has gone beyond a joke.