Loans to Ireland Bill (Allocation of Time)

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Wednesday 15th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hoban]

As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will say in his speech, the loan will be disbursed in eight tranches, if called on by the Irish Government. That is the reason why the title is in the plural rather than in the singular.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Hoban]

I was drawing my remarks to a close, because I am very conscious that every minute I spend at the Dispatch Box in this debate means a minute less on Second Reading, but I shall take one final intervention.

[Chris Bryant]

I, too, do not want overly to delay the House, but we are using an emergency procedure on a Bill that will not go through the same processes as other Bills. It is therefore all the more important that we ensure that we rarely use such a procedure. Will the Minister ensure that the Government do not use this procedure on future occasions, if similar arrangements have to be made for other countries?

[Mr Hoban]

It is important that there is proper parliamentary scrutiny of measures such as this. That is why we sought to agree the timetable through the usual channels, and to ensure that there is time to debate amendments and that the Bill goes through the normal process of scrutiny. Given that the Bill is shorter, it can be scrutinised in a shorter period of time without compromising scrutiny. That is why I believe that we can deal with it today. I urge the House to support the programme motion.