Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State has said that we cannot do this, as much as we might like to do it because there is not constitutional certainty on the question of whether this is compatible with Article 40.3.3o. I put it to the Minister of State that there is no constitutional certainty about other things that are included in the Bill. How is it that some things around which there is not constitutional certainty can be included but other things around which there is not constitutional certainty cannot be included? If it can be done in one instance it can be done in another. The Minister of State has a moral obligation to do it, given the horrendous nature of these situations. Surely we must explore that possibility. Jennifer Schweppe, who has written the amendment that Deputy Healy tabled, also proposed another way to approach it - if we do not do it as an amendment do it as an accompanying Bill which would be read together with this Bill so that if the accompanying Bill was struck down it would not impact on the main Bill. That is another option that the Minister of State could explore. We are asking the Minister of State to explore that, given the seriousness of this situation. I do not see what argument the Minster of State has for not exploring that possibility.