I am glad to hear it. I find myself in happy agreement with Senator Bacik - shock, horror - on the subject of the need to defend the rights and dignity of cyclists. I am not as frequent a cyclist as the Senator, but I am trying. She makes an excellent spokesperson for the cause.

I share Senator Darragh O'Brien's concerns regarding the proposal that No. 1, which overrules Standing Orders, be taken without debate. I propose a second amendment to the Order of Business that the motion not be taken today. I do so for the very good reason that the Government clearly has not considered the implications of what it is doing. It is normally a matter for the Committee of Selection of Seanad Éireann to decide the make-up of the membership of Senators on the various Oireachtas committees. As well as nominating Senators, it also has power to discharge their membership from time to time for non-attendance or at Senators' requests and to appoint others in substitution for those discharged. In this instance, I understand the Committee of Selection, which is chaired by Senator Denis O'Donovan, has not met.

There is a serious issue here in terms of the misuse of power by political parties. The latter are not mentioned in the Constitution. In fact, Article 15.10 is quite clear that the Houses, in making their own rules, do so in order to ensure freedom of debate. Parties moving in ruthlessly and immediately to dismiss people from committees of the Oireachtas because they sought their own freedom of debate and freedom of voting is an abuse of the committee system in party political interest.

Hear, hear.

Even though I understand this has not been tested in the courts, I would suggest it is an area in which they might well intervene if such misfeasance by parties were challenged.

Perhaps of most relevance to us today is the question of the proportionalities that must be maintained in the membership of Oireachtas committees. This proposal would remove three former Government Senators from various committees and replace them with three different Government Senators. Where we are dealing with committees that have five Senators as members, it seems to me that if the numbers were worked out, the representation of the Fine Gael Party should be reduced from two to one.

In proposing this, the Government-----

Is the Senator proposing an amendment to the Order of Business?

Yes, and I am setting out my reasons for doing so. This is a serious matter and I would like to know whether the Government has done the math in respect of it. Has it even considered whether it is disturbing the proportionality relating to membership of the committees or does it give a damn at all about that? What is being done sends out a very bad message and illustrates the dangers of what might occur if a unicameral parliamentary system comes into being here. If this is how people are intent on using the force of numbers available to them, it does not augur well for the future.

The Senator is way over time.

In such circumstances, I wish to propose an amendment to the Order of Business to the effect that No. 1 be deleted from today's Order of Business.