Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I, too, should have welcomed the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, and apologise to her for not doing so.

I do not wish to prolong the debate on this issue which Members rehearsed fully on the Order of Business and Second Stage. The Minister for public expenditure and reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, expressed his regret on Second Stage in this regard. The debate was originally scheduled to take place over two days and I do not know exactly who decided it should be reduced to a single day. The reason probably is that Government amendments will now be made in the Seanad and I understand there are difficulties in having it signed into law by the President, given her commitments, to allow it to come into force in time for the Minister to assume functions. I am not fully aware of what the timescale is, but I regret nevertheless that as a result, it is being taken on a single day. As I stated, the Government is trying to improve matters by ensuring there will be sufficient time to allow for a full debate on Committee and Report Stages.

I did not mention housekeeping in this context. Earlier in discussing the Minister's functions when his Department was established Members referred to them as being about ensuring the balancing of books and housekeeping. I did state this was a technical Bill to make provision for the establishment of his Department. Senator Thomas Byrne will be aware that the functions of the Minister are set out in section 8. In that sense this is a technical Bill and, as Senator Darragh O'Brien has stated, Fianna Fáil supports its spirit. The amendments are not substantive, in the sense that they go to the heart of the Bill's provisions, and Members can debate them individually.