I wish to raise a point before commencing our business. The speed at which we are expected to progress this Stage of the Bill is unacceptable, wrong and an abuse of power. I pay tribute to the staff of this committee and of the Bills Office who are being put under unacceptable strain to meet the requirements of the Government and the Minister. In particular, I express my concern at the fact that at the beginning of this meeting we have been told of certain amendments that cannot be taken because they involve a potential charge on revenue. The last time this happened it caused much argument in this committee because Deputies, including myself, felt it was wrong that we would come in prepared to take Committee Stage and be presented with a fait accompli as regards amendments that were not to be taken. The Chairman at the time undertook to contact the Bills Office to explain the difficulty and to ensure the problem was dealt with so that we had some time on being informed that an amendment was in dispute — I prefer to put it that way because I certainly dispute from time to time the decisions made. In this instance, we find yet again that as we come to the meeting we are presented with a fait accompli. I appreciate the circumstances are not of anybody’s choosing apart from the Minister. It is unacceptable that we cannot deal with amendments we have tabled in good faith and that we cannot appeal or argue on the basis of the decision. I ask the Chairman to pursue this matter further to ensure we can do our business properly. I realise the Chairman is caught in this trap as well as the rest of us, in the sense that proper time has not been given for us to do our work properly. I ask you to deal with this particular aspect of the difficulties we are facing.
