It is proposed that, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, or the Order of the Dáil today, the Dáil shall sit later than midnight and shall adjourn no later than 5 a.m.
Business of Dáil
Is that agreed? It is not agreed.
This is a very important issue and many people want to make serious contributions. There is nothing that requires us to pass this Bill tonight. I cannot understand why we cannot adjourn the debate and resume it tomorrow, and continue having this debate until everybody who wants to make a genuine contribution gets an opportunity to do so. It is fair to say-----
I think you have made your point.
I would like to finish. Nobody has been-----
You are just using up time.
-----speaking for the sake of speaking. The public are anxious to hear what Deputies have to say, and I think they would prefer that we would continue this debate in a proper manner tomorrow and take whatever time is needed.
10 o'clock
I am not going to oppose the Government on this, but we discussed this at our group meeting earlier on, and the case was made that there is no provision for the staff. There had to be an intervention earlier on to have a break. There are many women here who have children and who came in this morning at 7.30 a.m. It is a big argument for changing the way we work this institution.
Question put: "That the Dáil shall sit later than midnight and adjourn no later than 5 a.m."
The Dáil divided: Tá, 103; Níl, 54.
Tá
- Bannon, James.
- Barry, Tom.
- Breen, Pat.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burton, Joan.
- Butler, Ray.
- Buttimer, Jerry.
- Byrne, Catherine.
- Byrne, Eric.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Carey, Joe.
- Coffey, Paudie.
- Collins, Áine.
- Conaghan, Michael.
- Conlan, Seán.
- Connaughton, Paul J.
- Conway, Ciara.
- Coonan, Noel.
- Corcoran Kennedy, Marcella.
- Costello, Joe.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Creed, Michael.
- Creighton, Lucinda.
- Daly, Jim.
- Deasy, John.
- Deenihan, Jimmy.
- Deering, Pat.
- Doherty, Regina.
- Donohoe, Paschal.
- Dowds, Robert.
- Doyle, Andrew.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Feighan, Frank.
- Ferris, Anne.
- Fitzgerald, Frances.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Gilmore, Eamon.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Hannigan, Dominic.
- Harrington, Noel.
- Harris, Simon.
- Hayes, Tom.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Hogan, Phil.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Humphreys, Heather.
- Humphreys, Kevin.
- Keating, Derek.
- Keaveney, Colm.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Seán.
- Kyne, Seán.
- Lawlor, Anthony.
- Lynch, Ciarán.
- Lynch, Kathleen.
- Lyons, John.
- McCarthy, Michael.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McFadden, Nicky.
- McGinley, Dinny.
- McHugh, Joe.
- McLoughlin, Tony.
- McNamara, Michael.
- Maloney, Eamonn.
- Mitchell, Olivia.
- Mitchell O'Connor, Mary.
- Mulherin, Michelle.
- Murphy, Dara.
- Murphy, Eoghan.
- Nash, Gerald.
- Neville, Dan.
- Nolan, Derek.
- Noonan, Michael.
- Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Mahony, John.
- O'Reilly, Joe.
- O'Sullivan, Jan.
- Penrose, Willie.
- Perry, John.
- Phelan, Ann.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Quinn, Ruairí.
- Rabbitte, Pat.
- Reilly, James.
- Ring, Michael.
- Ryan, Brendan.
- Shatter, Alan.
- Sherlock, Sean.
- Spring, Arthur.
- Stagg, Emmet.
- Stanton, David.
- Tuffy, Joanna.
- Twomey, Liam.
- Varadkar, Leo.
- Wall, Jack.
- White, Alex.
Níl
- Adams, Gerry.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Broughan, Thomas P.
- Browne, John.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Collins, Joan.
- Collins, Niall.
- Colreavy, Michael.
- Cowen, Barry.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Daly, Clare.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Stephen S.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Ferris, Martin.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Fleming, Tom.
- Halligan, John.
- Healy, Seamus.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Higgins, Joe.
- Kelleher, Billy.
- Kirk, Seamus.
- Kitt, Michael P.
- Lowry, Michael.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- McGrath, Finian.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- McGrath, Michael.
- McGuinness, John.
- McLellan, Sandra.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Mathews, Peter.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murphy, Catherine.
- Naughten, Denis.
- Nulty, Patrick.
- Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- O'Brien, Jonathan.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Sullivan, Maureen.
- Pringle, Thomas.
- Ross, Shane.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Timmins, Billy.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Troy, Robert.
- Wallace, Mick.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Emmet Stagg and Paul Kehoe; Níl, Deputies Michael Moynihan and Seán Ó Fearghaíl.
Question declared carried.
I would like to place on record the absolute absence of any consultation with the Opposition Whips in regard to the farcical motion just put before the House. In terms of the public perception of this House, the motion put by the Government, without notice, has reduced this situation to a farce.
Deputies
Hear, hear.
The public perception will be one of incredulity in terms of what has been proposed.
Thank you, Deputy. We are returning to the Bill.
It is wrong of the Government to do this. It is bad enough if people want to use jackboot tactics against their own Members, but it is not good enough that they try to use them against every other Member.
Deputies
Hear, hear.
There is no national emergency here. This session could, if the Government wanted, be postponed until tomorrow. If Members want to deliberate further, we have no difficulty with that.
Thank you, Deputy.
For the Government to treat the Opposition in the manner it has, and indeed some its own backbenchers, and keep them here until 5 a.m. is a joke. Nor does it do justice to the issue. It does not do justice to the sensitivity of the issue.
This is an issue Fianna Fáil would not address for 14 years.
How many bankers has Deputy Shatter locked up so far? None yet.
The Deputy talked about a farce. Please do not make it a farce.
At 9.57 p.m. there was a text message from the Chief Whip - no consultation, no meeting, and they talk about Dáil reform. No wonder they want to abolish the Seanad.
Deputies
Hear, hear.
We will return to the Bill.