Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 47:

In page 61, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:

“(a) the public interest,”.

As an Independent Senator, the resources that we use in our offices are that we have one Senator and one staff member to go through a Bill line by line, prepare amendments and come in to speak to those amendments on Committee Stage. Every party, whether in government or not, has the opportunity to amend legislation. Even with whatever internal back and forth is going on here it is unfair to the staff of other offices, who are ready to come in on amendments, to hold up legislation so we do not get to particular amendments that we are all willing to support Fianna Fáil on. There are amendments that it has that the rest of us want to support in regard to the JPCs. We can get to those amendments but we are not going to get to those amendments. It is unfair to the work of my office and my staff that I have to waste my time here, listening to this back and forth constantly, when all it is doing is delaying. I hate playing this game because it is my time and the time of other Members. Senator Gallagher is on the justice committee. He has an opportunity there to influence this. It is unfair.