Seanad Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 5 Jul 1983

Vol. 101 No. 5

Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) (Amendment) Bill, 1983: Order for Second Stage.

Professor Dooge

I move: "That the Second Stage be ordered for Wednesday, 6 July 1983."

This Bill has been circulated. It is a Bill on which there was agreement that it should pass in this session of the Oireachtas. It was thought that with the pressure of business in the other House it was more appropriate that this Bill be brought into the Seanad so that it could have a substantial debate here before being passed to the Dáil. This, I think all Senators would agree, would be preferable to having it passed under constraints of time in the Dáil, and then passed to the Seanad after the Dáil has adjourned. I would propose, therefore, that we should order the Second Stage for tomorrow and take it as the first item of business tomorrow.

Mrs. Robinson

This is obviously a very important measure and, indeed, as a member of the Labour Group I very much welcome the fact that it is coming before us. It does seem to me that we are operating under truly intolerable constraints in addressing ourselves to legislation. The Dáil is due to rise on Friday of this week. Is this Bill expected to pass through both Houses in all stages before Friday? It does not seem that the importance of this measure would allow it to be properly considered by both Houses in that time.

I would have thought, since the Bill is ready, that it would be preferable to arrange that the Houses sit longer in July rather than rise and put us all under what I think are unreal constraints. I do not think we are doing the job properly if we are going to try to rush this important legislation through in three or four days flat. I very much welcome it, and I am glad the Minister has been able to prepare it and bring it before us, as he undertook to do before the summer. We are getting our priorities wrong in not giving enough time to consider it.

Question put and agreed to.