Victor Boyhan criticises guillotining of Tenancies Bill
Victor Boyhan addressed the House on 19 June 2025, raising concerns about the guillotining of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill and other parliamentary matters. He criticised the decision to take all stages of the bill in one day, urged proper scrutiny, and welcomed aspects of the 2025 education plan.
Guillotining of the Tenancies Bill
Mr Boyhan said the Government proposed that all stages of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill be guillotined in a single day. He noted that amendments were closed at five o'clock the previous day and said it was inappropriate for a revising chamber to have its scrutiny time compressed in this way.
Parliamentary scrutiny and the whip system
He argued the chamber is intended to be a revising body and urged members to resist being sidelined, saying some were effectively told on the back stairs that "we do what we are told" under a whip system. He also pointed to days and mornings when there is little or no business and called for better use of parliamentary time.
Survivors and a promised inquiry
Mr Boyhan raised a separate issue on behalf of Mick Finnegan of the St John's Ambulance Brigade and acknowledged Senator Chris Andrews for his advocacy. He said too many survivors carried scars in silence, noted that Norma Foley did not attend the House though a junior minister for state did, and recalled a promised full inquiry that has seen no progress despite the efforts of former Senator and MEP Regina Doherty.
Education plan 2025 and therapeutic services
He congratulated the Minister for Education and Youth on the launch of the education plan for 2025 and welcomed the commitment to reintroduce therapeutic and therapy services within schools. He asked for ministerial statements to follow so the House can examine the details and implementation of the plan.
Call for collective action
Mr Boyhan concluded by urging all members to "get our act together" and use the House to scrutinise legislation effectively for the citizens they represent.
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Thank you. Leader, I want to raise three issues today. The first is in relation to the Residential Tendencies Amendment Bill. The Government have proposed that all stages of this bill will be guillotined in this chamber today. But we don't have to agree with that. So it is up to the members. We are the Opera House. We are a revising chamber. We are meant to be revising legislation. It was five o'clock when it was closed for amendments yesterday. This is an important bill and I am not going to talk about the substantive issues of the bill now because it wouldn't be appropriate, we have time later. But it quite frankly is simply not good enough for democratically elected parliamentarians who are ambitious to come into this revising chamber, as we saw many months ago, who were very competitive in their desire to tell their electorate that they were going to be involved in reform and legislation. And then to be told in the back stairs of this place, we do what we are told because we are in government and we are under a whip system. That is the reality of it. So I just want to put on record my disappointment at government, at the powers that be, the functionaries that are involved in all of this, that it is very disappointing that all stages of a bill is guillotined in one day for a chamber that is meant to be a revising chamber. And we are swanning around here and there are days when there is no business, there are mornings where there is no work in this kind of chamber, there are afternoons when there is nothing going on here. And somehow nobody can manage to use the time of this parliament effectively to represent and scrutinise legislation. I will leave that alone for the moment. Later we will be dealing with a residential tenancies abuse bill. And I know that won't be guillotined, but I want to raise a matter on behalf of Mick Finnegan from the St John's Ambulance Brigade. And I want to acknowledge Senator Chris Andrews for his work on this and championing this and indeed raising this in the Shannon recently. But too many survivors have carried the scars of their experiences in silence and have left justice or closure. And Norma Foley didn't come to the House, but one of the junior ministers for state came. But we were promised a full inquiry. And I want to pay credit to our former Senator, leader of this House, MEP Regina Doherty, who exhaustedly pursued the issue. We got no progress. So I think we need to do something about that. I want to also, on a positive note, congratulate the Minister who will be in later on. The Minister for Education and Youth in terms of the education plan for 2025 that was launched today. And I would ask that we would have minister statements in relation to that. And I particularly welcome one aspect of it, which is her commitment and promise to the reintroduction of therapeutic services and therapy services within our school system. I think that's a really, really positive move. I've had a brief look at the summary of this document. I think it's positive. I want to welcome it. And I would ask the Minister for Education to come to the House and let's have statements. But finally, I finish on this. Let's get our act together here, folks, all of us, and collectively use this House for what it's meant to be, which is to scrutinise legislation for the betterment of the citizens that we represent.
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