I thank the Deputy. I will move back to the Government. Three speakers will share 11 minutes. The first speaker listed is Deputy Murnane O'Connor.

I call Deputy Alan Kelly now.

The next speaking slot is Sinn Féin. There are five speakers, commencing with Deputy Funchion.

There are four speakers in the Rural Independent Group.

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a gabháil leis an Teachta Whitmore as ucht an rún seo a chur os comhair na Dála. I thank Deputy Whitmore and the Social Democrats for bringing the motion before the Dáil. It is a reflection on how seriously the House takes this subject that there was barely a quorum to deal with this business today. The silence of the Dáil speaks volumes. In that sense, I feel sorry for the Minister, but perhaps that will give him more inspiration to begin to lead. While I welcome the Minister's speech a…

Baineann mo cheist le Bille na dteangacha oifigiúla. Mar is eol don Taoiseach, tá an iliomad geallúintí sollúnta faighte agam sa Dáil seo agus sa Dáil dheireanach maidir leis an mBille seo. Cá bhfuil sé? Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach. An geallúint shollúnta dheireanach a fuaireamar ná go mbeidh sé ní hamháin foilsithe ach achtaithe roimh an Nollaig. Ag an bpointe seo, bheinn sásta a fháil amach cén dáta a bhfoilseofar an Bille.

Go raibh maith agat.

I thank the Deputy.

I thank the Minister of State.

We have three more Topical Issues, so I ask for Members' co-operation.

I do not know whether the Minister of State did it deliberately or inadvertently but this Bill has fed into the narrative about serial objectors. The reckless comments from certain Deputies today in this regard are unacceptable. There is absolutely no evidence presented to us in the Dáil that serial objectors are a problem. The irony is not lost on me that the day the Minister of State published this Bill was the same day the Supreme Court published its judgment in favour of Friends of the Irish Environment and qua…

Amendments Nos. 1, 59 to 63, inclusive, 66, 99, 100 and 108 are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Amendment No. 63 is a physical alternative to No. 62.

I cannot limit Deputies' speaking time, but many people have gone to a great deal of trouble and four speakers are indicating. I ask, therefore, for the House's co-operation during the debate on the amendments.

I will allow the Deputy to continue but we are speaking to the amendment on the timeframe for the forestry appeals committee to give its decision. I am reminding everybody that we are not on Second Stage. We are on Committee Stage so the Deputy's contribution should be relevant to the amendment.

There is no time limit on a Deputy's contribution but it should be relevant to the amendment. We are speaking to amendment No. 1, in the name of Deputy Fitzmaurice, and there are a number of associated amendments. It would help if we could address the amendments.

For what it is worth, I say again that we are discussing the amendments.

I thank the Deputy for his brevity and relevance.

I can see reason in this amendment but I cannot support it because, while we need certainty with regard to appeals, the amendment completely ignores the facts on the ground. I find it difficult to accept the Government's role in the narrative being portrayed here. I was under some pressure in respect of time earlier on and I would like to take a few minutes to go back on some of the points I was making. I absolutely believe in having a thriving woodland industry, which we need. We need it for jobs, for sustainable …

Will the Deputy come back to the amendment?

We are on amendment No. 1.