Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Certainly, it would be of assistance to all of us if not for Committee Stage, at the very least before Report Stage, that we would have it. We should all seek to ensure that Committee Stage is concluded next week so we can move this on. We also need to be clear about the knock-on effect that the Seanad processes have in terms of expediting and speeding up the process behind the scenes in government. It is hugely important that we would also keep on track with this and conclude Committee Stage next week.

It is great that we have cross-party agreement on the spirit of the Bill. As Senator Power said it is a fairly simple proposition that people should not be discriminated against in the workplace on grounds of their sexuality, in particular. Having said that, it is complex legally to get a formula correct. That 60 submissions, one of which was mine, were made to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission shows how complex it is to achieve the purpose on which we are all united.