Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. This is an important Bill, but it is also a missed opportunity. We should not have taken this week and next week to do it, which are the last weeks in which it can be done. We should have done this in a rolling way. As I said on the Order of Business two weeks ago, our role as parliamentarians and the role of our staff have changed considerably over time. The Minister spoke about our proud parliamentary traditions. We have those traditions, but I remind all Members of the House that democracy is not cheap. In some cases, the words and actions of some people have demeaned and undermined the value of democracy, of parliament and of parliamentarians. We should reflect on that.

It is important in this debate that we pay tribute, and not in a patronising way, to the men and women who work in the Houses of the Oireachtas. I refer to those who work on all aspects and all phases of the work of the House, from those who work in the Oireachtas Library and Research Service to those who turn off the lights at night, and all points in between. I am not going to identify anybody.

We must all grasp an opportunity to talk about the context of our secretarial assistants.As Senator Gavan said, to paraphrase him, the name itself is wrong. It should be changed. The role should be transformed completely. It is an outmoded and outdated concept and the pay is insulting, if we are being honest. I am not being adversarial but it is absolutely appalling.

There is an opportunity now and it is one we must all grasp. This Bill is a missed opportunity. The Minister was correct when he mentioned the Parliamentary Budget Office, which we welcome. He was also correct about the issue of committees. I chaired a committee for five years where we brought in pre-legislative scrutiny on a lot of very contentious legislation. It was the right place to do it and the correct thing to do, but one of the critical things we have missed is the role of parliamentarians - Senator Boyhan was correct when he stated that we cannot talk about Senators unless we address the issue of the pay and conditions of staff - and the support given to Members of the Seanad. Let us not cod ourselves. Maybe the Minister will be here someday. I hope he will not be, but maybe he will.