Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In view of what Senator Higgins is saying, I agree with the Minister State that there should be scrutiny and reporting but the Houses of the Oireachtas will be in a position to do so without a plethora of reports and therefore, that seems reasonable.

I want to note for the record of the House that the Leader’s amendment to the Order of Business has effectively been to guillotine the discussion on Committee Stage at 6 p.m. today and to provide for a debate on Report Stage on a subsequent day. I am quite happy with that. I saw what happened earlier and I understand and am not going to embarrass anybody about this but I make the point that when one abrogates, as a matter of habit, the differentiation of Report Stage from Committee Stage, it is usually done for the convenience of the Government. I now see that the opposite can be done, for the convenience of the Government. That is all I will say on that point and I will not put it any further than that.