Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will not be in a position to support the Order of Business. I will not repeat everything Senator McDowell said but I will say that I am concerned about the guillotine. I know Senator Doherty is the Leader and there are many demands on her in organising the proceedings of the House. However, it is not acceptable that we had no pre-legislative scrutiny of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022, about which her party knows a lot, and are now expected to fast-track the legislation in a very short period of time.

I will stick to this issue for a moment. It will be a major issue in Donegal, Clare and a number of other counties. There will be a time when we look back and ask whether we examined this legislation in detail. The reality is that no pre-legislative scrutiny was done by the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The Seanad, the House for screening and improving legislation, will have very limited time with it. I ask the Leader to remember that if we make that decision today, it will come back at us. It is on the record of the House. I will leave it at that.

I saw some of the heated and charged debate today from my office. I welcome all the people in the Gallery observing how we conduct our business in this Chamber. We have a policy called dignity and respect for workers. It applies to us too. I will challenge anyone who says he or she has been bullied or intimidated, or has not been afforded dignity and respect as an individual in this House, to proceed through the proper procedures and channels. I will certainly be able to travel with and support him or her, regardless of whether that person is in my group. However, to suggest there are all sorts of motives is not fair or right. I do not say that as a personal criticism of anyone in the House today or any other day. I will ask the Oireachtas Commission to circulate the dignity and respect document. I will circulate it widely to the media and I will issue a statement about it. We need to talk about it because it is an issue and this document protects all of us.

I ask the Leader for a debate on urban regeneration in the next term. We had a report from the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage and there was a request to discuss it in both Houses. I suggest we have a debate on the recommendations in the autumn.