Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I echo what Senator Ruane said, and I raised this yesterday on Order of Business. It is a shoddy way to do business. With all due respect, if the Minister of State had raised it on Second Stage, why did we not receive a briefing note? The amendments came through on Tuesday night. There is still no justification. The first time we heard what the rationale was behind these amendments was in the Minister of State's statement this morning. I asked numerous people who are far better than I am at reading legislation what they thought of it and they all expressed concerns that the amendments are quite technical and that without an explanatory note with them, it would be very hard to justify why we are passing them at this particular Stage. They could have been brought to the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action even in an private session. A briefing with the Department would have been the respectful way to try and introduce them. They are not even on the Oireachtas website for the public to scrutinise. Will the Minister of State withdraw the amendments and bring them back on Report Stage and facilitate a briefing on both of them? Nobody wants the lights to go out in the winter but the Minister of State cannot bring in non-consequential amendments in this manner and expect Members to stand over allowing them pass through the Seanad.