Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The arguments against are non-existent, so I will not delay the House any further. I thank all the Members who have spoken in support of the motion for their kind words for the proposers of this motion. People say that the direction of travel is one way. One Member of the other House who spoke to me this evening said it was a fait accompliand there was no stopping it. Then I inquired and found out that no competent body has made this decision. The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission has not made this decision. The committee to which this presentation, which is so incriminating, was made, has not made a decision on it. Add to that the simple arithmetic that my good parliamentary assistant, Samantha Long, asked every Member of the Oireachtas where they stood on this issue, and the great majority said they were against this step. In those circumstances, it is time not merely to cry halt but to tell the people who have misjudged the sense of the Members of each House of the Oireachtas that they must reverse what they have done and that this House should be treated with some elementary respect. Its Members should not find themselves deprived of an in-house, face-to-face library and Library and Research Service, for all the reasons that have been mentioned, due to the decision of a tiny few unaccountable people.