Gilmore slams guillotine use

Posted on July 02, 2009 at 04:19 PM

This morning's Order of Business in the Dáil saw Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore object to the Government's use of guillotine without full debate to push through legislation saying its use has been taken to new levels of "ridiculousness".

"By my count, there are 12 proposals involving a guillotine. Four of the items of legislation the House is being asked to deal with next week are entirely new and have not appeared before the House thus far.

"Two of the Bills have yet to be published, one of which deals with the forthcoming referendum on the Lisbon treaty. Among all of this, 90 minutes will be allocated next Tuesday for the debate on Committee, Report and Final Stages of the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009 which has far-reaching implications for the criminal justice system."

Eamon went on to say that the time allotted is not sufficient to allow the degree of scrutiny Bills require.

"It is not unusual that we find ourselves in a position at the end of a Dáil session where the Government is using the guillotine to push through legislation, either to get it out of the way or to minimise the amount of public attention it will receive. However, on this occasion, it has taken the use of the guillotine and the ordering of business to a new level of ridiculousness."

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