Seanad debates
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Business of Seanad
3:00 am
Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)
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I propose that the House suspend until 5:15 p.m. There is a vote in the Dáil and the Minister of State to be present for Private Members' business is not paired.
Ivana Bacik (Independent)
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With respect, if we had known about this perhaps we could have had another 15 minutes for the very important debate which was very heavily curtailed. I am not sure I am keen to agree to this.
Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I was not aware of it. I did not know the request was going to be made.
Ivana Bacik (Independent)
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Is the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, paired?
Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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No, and I thank Senator Bacik for her co-operation.
Ivana Bacik (Independent)
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I do not think we are co-operating on this. We should have had more time for the previous debate. We brought forward Private Members' business to 5 p.m. to facilitate everyone and we were happy to do so, but now it is being moved back to 5:15 p.m. Will the debate on Private Members' business continue until 7:15 p.m.?
Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Is Senator Bacik disagreeing with the proposal to suspend the sitting?
Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
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I propose we suspend the House until 5.30 p.m.
Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, who is due to take Private Members' business on behalf of the Government, is required to be in the Dáil Chamber for a vote as there is no pair available to him. I apologise to the House and Senators Bacik and Prendergast and will endeavour to ensure Private Members' business is concluded by 7 p.m. to facilitate Senator Bacik, who, I understand, has another appointment.
John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)
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Does the Whip propose a suspension?
Ivana Bacik (Independent)
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I am not happy to agree to that. I do not have another appointment at 7 p.m. and am happy to stay beyond that. I am anxious, however, that we do not mess around with the timetable too much. We had to curtail the earlier debate and although I was anxious to speak for the allotted time on that debate, I only got two minutes. The Minister of State's response also had to be cut short on the earlier debate. It is in that context I opposed the change in the ordering of business to 5.15 p.m and this change to 5.30 p.m.