I wish to amend the Order of Business again and propose that we deal with the Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013 at 5.45 p.m. I apologise to the Bills Office, in particular, the staff of which are having difficulty in keeping pace owing to so many amendments being submitted. I must say, even as a Government representative, that it is unacceptable. The Bills Office has been given little or no time to turn around Bills. We will suspend the sitting until 5.45 p.m. in order to allow time for more amendments to be printed to the water services legislation.
Business of Seanad
I accept what the Leader has said. Report and Final Stages of the Water Services (No. 2) Bill were supposed to be taken nearly an hour ago, yet the amendments are not available for us to examine. We are expected to come in here, at the drop of a hat, to realistically debate the issue; this is totally unacceptable. I appreciate that the Bills Office may be under pressure, but Senators, as public representatives, are under pressure to balance everything. It is unacceptable to suspend the sitting for a further ten minutes only to come in and be handed a photocopy of the amendments, try to juggle everything around and participate in a sensible debate. I do not blame the Leader for this.
I wish to add to the Senator's comments. I have just received a copy of the Report Stage amendments from the Bills Office. Senators had no choice but to table amendments late because the House sat late last night. The difficulty is that the Government is trying to ram through seven or eight Bills this week. It wants to guillotine the debate on the Bill and not give anybody, ranging from the staff, the Bills Office and Senators, enough time to table amendments and scrutinise legislation. The fault does not lie with the Bills Office, the Leader or Senators. For a number of weeks in the past few months we did not sit for a number of days and no legislation came through. In the last week of the session the Government wants to ram through all of the legislation because it suits. That is not good enough. I want the Minister to convey the message that it is not fair to treat the Seanad, the staff of the Bills Office and Senators in this way. It is appalling.
I support the comments made by the Leader and Senators David Cullinane and Diarmuid Wilson. I ask the Minister to report back to his Cabinet colleagues that it is unacceptable to have a frenzy of legislation in the last week of the session. It has put undue pressure on the Bills Office, in particular, and the staff of the Houses. It is not a good way to legislate. I accept, as I think we all do, that some legislation is subject to a particular time pressure. Unless there is a clear and objective time pressure, there should be no reason to legislate in a rushed fashion. We will have time in January, as we are all aware, because there will be more space in the schedule. We would be able to give the Bills the due consideration that they deserve. I ask the Minister to convey my message to his Cabinet colleagues.
In view of what the House has stated, I wish to amend the Order of Business again. I propose that we adjourn, rather than conclude, the debate on Report Stage of the Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013 at 7.30 p.m..
The Leader has made two proposals.
I have.
The first proposal was that the sitting be suspended until 5.45 p.m. Is that correct?
Is it agreed that the sitting be suspended until 5.45 p.m? Agreed.
My second proposal was that the debate on Report Stage of the Water Services (No. 2) 2013 be adjourned at 7.30 p.m.
Is the Leader rescinding the Order of Business agreed to this morning?
I am.
Is the proposal that the debate, if not previously concluded, be adjourned at 7.30 p.m?
Is the amendment agreed to? Agreed.
Sitting suspended at 5.40 p.m. and resumed at 6 p.m.