Mr. P?draig ? Muirigh:

There is some urgency. The Taoiseach indicated quite a number of weeks ago that he would only take another couple of weeks. We have passed that point. The Attorney General has provided advice, so now it is probably more of a political decision. I am not sure what the legal advice was, but there are clear grounds for the Irish Government to take the case. Other than political reasons, I am unsure as to why it has not done so yet.

It is incumbent on the members of this committee and other politicians to keep the pressure on. We are now heading into a holiday period. Shortly after that, we will be close to the four-month deadline. I should stress that that is the deadline for families applying. My understanding is that it is the same for the State, but I stand to be corrected on that. Nonetheless, I do not see any reason for further delay. The Bill is now an Act and it is clear that it is in breach of the Good Friday Agreement and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Irish Government should not await any Supreme Court decision on that or wait on the outcome of the current litigation. The time to act is now. Doing so would not only be important legally, but it would put considerable pressure on the British Government, or, more likely, any incoming British Government. That may provide some political cover for a Labour Administration to seriously consider keeping its word, which it gave at Queen’s University Belfast, to repeal the Act. I have my doubts about that, as some members have already said, but without an interstate case, the Labour Government will have an easier ride in avoiding dealing with this issue in a substantive way.