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Dáil
‹ An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

Electoral Reform Bill lottery amendment

Summary

Several Deputies opposed rushing a last-minute Electoral Reform Bill amendment on political party lotteries, arguing it needed full scrutiny and that Report Stage was being guillotined. The Chair cut off one contribution and concerns broadened to rushed legislation generally.

Sinn Féin is opposing the Order of Business because of the last-minute introduction of an amendment to the Electoral Reform Bill 2022. It is an old-fashioned stroke, to be quite frank. There is no time to debate it. The Government wants to push through a motion. What is it about? It is about Fianna Fáil being blocked in the court, following the actions of a private citizen, with regard to its €500,000 lottery. Rather than have full scrutiny of changes to the law that would facilitate that, the Government wants to barge it through. That is a stroke but to see Fine Gael and Green Party Ministers go along with it says an awful lot. I hope the Government will change tack and make provision for a full scrutiny of the change Fianna Fáil wants to bring in. If it does that, we will agree to the Order of Business.

Comment on this

I will address the same issue. It is wrong, as the Taoiseach will have to agree, to push forward the Electoral Reform Bill 2022, with Report Stage to be guillotined after 90 minutes when the Government has tabled more than 150 amendments. We also have the stroke of allowing political party lotteries to take place.

There has to be full scrutiny. We will oppose the Order of Business for that reason.

Comment on this

This is nothing but a good old style Fianna Fáil political stroke. It is political reform Fianna Fáil style. It is disgraceful. We were told through the media, by a spokesperson from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, that this measure was agreed by Cabinet on 24 May. We had a Dáil select committee meeting two weeks ago. This measure could have been brought to the select committee. Before that, another stroke was attempted by nodding through an instruction to committee. We then had a 60-minute debate on some new sections that were added to the Bill and the Government is trying the same thing again. This is even more devious, because it seeks to introduce, at the eleventh hour, a new way for political parties to raise money. We know about the toxic influence of money on the political system. Our history has shown us that. By virtue of that alone, we need serious scrutiny of this measure in this House. We need a full plenary sitting of the Dáil to interrogate and ventilate the issues properly. We have 90 minutes to discuss 150 amendments.

Comment on this

The Deputy's time is up.

Comment on this

Some of them are technical and inconsequential. Having just 90 minutes to debate something of this import is disgraceful. It is a poor reflection on the Government parties, which are railroading an important issue through the Dáil with minimal scrutiny.

Comment on this

This is incredibly important legislation. We have long awaited it. It is not acceptable for it to be treated in this way. We also see the Garda Síochána (Amendment) Bill being rushed through. This time of the year is quite dangerous for process. With a poor process, one often gets inadequate scrutiny and poor outcomes. This is not a way to handle legislation. Only a couple of weeks ago, we were dealing with statements, because there was not sufficient legislation coming through. This is a misuse of the House's time and then rush things through. It is not acceptable.

Comment on this