Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I qualify that welcome, however, with the following. When we were on Second Stage of this Bill, I and Senator Craughwell drew to the Minister’s attention that this was an important Bill, far-reaching in its consequences, and that it could not be rushed through. To be particular about what was said, I said:

This Bill needs very serious further consideration. It should not be guillotined and it should not be rushed through.

Senator Craughwell spoke about the fact that even the Minister’s own speech was reduced to 15 minutes. He continued by saying that he sincerely hoped:

...we do not go down the silly route of guillotining the Bill at some stage before the end of the session. We can always come back to it in September.

It might be thought that those were reasonable requests. In reply, the Minister said:

Unlike in the other House, I am not a Member here. The Seanad orders its business as the Members wish to order its business. I am here to genuinely engage in good faith. We genuinely engaged on the issue in the Dáil. We did not just come in and use our Dáil majority to say, "Thanks very much, good night and good luck." We brought forward 179 amendments. While they were all brought forward in my name, bar one, many of them arose from Opposition contributions

Later, the Minister said:

... as I mentioned earlier. I am here to engage in good faith. It will take the time that it takes, and we will work our way through it. I would not be so rude, as a Member of the Lower House, to try to tell the Upper House how to do its business.

The Minister then stated, "We took steps in the Dáil, which I am sure we will be able to tease through on Committee and Report Stages, to further strengthen the importance of autonomy". This is what the Minister said in this House.