David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First, the State is not a party to any proceedings in this regard. Second, I was not aware of the matter raised by Deputy O'Callaghan until I arrived here this morning. I am a little disappointed that the member of the Opposition did not have the courtesy to contact my Department and make us aware of the matter. When we were in opposition, if an issue arose, we would regularly contact the Government side and tease out issues, even when there was no understanding to do so. However, that is neither here nor there. I see no reason not to proceed. Other issues relating to the Bill will need to be dealt with. Personally, I would like to proceed. However, Deputy O'Callaghan has indicated that he will call a vote and I appreciate the reality that the Government can no longer necessarily win such votes. I ask the Chairman to suspend the committee for ten or 15 minutes until I can consult on the matter. Perhaps then we could reconvene and discuss it further. This is unprecedented. Again, I feel that we could and should proceed and discuss these issues and tease them out.

We are not at this point enacting any legislation; that is a little away yet. We do not know when the Supreme Court will discuss the matter or what the outcome will be. I contend that if the Bill were passed, the Supreme Court might have requested that the issue not be discussed because it will be dealt with by legislation here. We need to tease out and consider many issues here. As the Chairman stated, I was previously served as Chairman of a committee. Quite often, these matters rest with the Chairman of the committee to make a decision as to whether to proceed. The Chairman knows my view: I think we should proceed. However, we are in his hands. I ask that we consider suspending for 15 minutes to give me an opportunity to consult our officials and others on the matter, reconvening and then making a decision as to how to proceed.