Order of Business - 22nd March 2006

Order of Business - 22nd March 2006
Mr. Norris: I support my various colleagues from different sides of the House who praised RTE. We should recognise how lucky we are to have such an excellent and independent public service broadcasting service, as many other countries do not. Would to God that the United States had an independent broadcasting service like RTE to examine current matters under discussion there.
It is highly unusual, particularly for an intellectually combative Minister such as Deputy McDowell, to throw down a gauntlet so publicly but, when it is taken up, refuse to meet the challenge.
Mr. B. Hayes: Yes.
Mr. Norris: It is intriguing and unusual.
Mr. Dardis: He did not do that.
(Interruptions).
Mr. Norris: Perhaps it is bullying. Perhaps this has led to a significant increase in the representation of the Labour Party in the Dáil, which I had not noticed. Senator Ryan said that it is the second largest party in the House.
Ms O’Rourke: He did.
Mr. Norris: I congratulate him and am sorry I missed that remarkable political event.
Mr. Dardis: It was a Freudian slip. Wishful thinking.
Mr. Norris: Even the fact that the Criminal Justice Bill was introduced in 2004 is instructive as this is 2006. The situation is paralleled by the Disability Bill 2001, which was withdrawn, in that a Bill that was initially 34 pages long has had 340 pages of amendments added to it. The Bill is dwarfed by amendments that constitute ten times its bulk, which clearly suggests that it should be withdrawn and represented in an appropriate form. It is daft to have a Bill that is one tenth the size of the Government’s amendments before this reviewing Chamber gets into operation.
Mr. Cummins: Hear, hear.
Mr. Norris: The Minister has added issues such as ASBOs, gun control and so on, which should perhaps be matters for separate legislation. If one has a Criminal Justice Bill 2004, it becomes less relevant by 2006. There is a gross disproportion. I ask that the Bill be withdrawn and properly presented to the House in a form that is appropriate to the parliamentary process