Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to come in before the Minister of State because I believe his intervention has in some ways complicated matters.

He has indicated that the Government will substantially change Deputy Madigan's Bill whereas our amendments were posed very much on the basis of the Bill as it stood dealing with the time issue. No time limit in the Constitution would prevent a time limit being put into legislation. Regardless of the time limit, the Constitution would still provide that a divorce could only be granted if there was no reasonable prospect of a reconciliation, such provisions as made by the court having regard to the children, so we were keeping all that. That would negate any sort of idea that this would be a free for all with everybody carrying on. It relates to the point that there are a number of people who collude with each other to shorten the timeframe. What does that tell us? It tells us that having a time limit is completely arbitrary and it depends on the circumstances. We want to ensure that nobody is ridden roughshod over or does not have his or her rights protected. I have colluded with people in that as well. They want to move on with their lives. They are paying in respect of two separate legal processes. They are going through a judicial separation and are then going through the same thing in a divorce later on when they could do it in one go. Attitudes in Ireland have moved on and people are more responsible. In a debate around that, we could make those points rationally and say that the time limit is gone, but that does not mean it cannot be prescribed in legislation, and that all these other safeguards are there and that they are the most important things.

The Minister of State complicated it because we were doing it like that. That is the point we want to make in regard to whatever completely new Bill comes back on Report Stage. I am bit confused about that.