Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will respond to that and ask one final question. I am sympathetic to what Mr. Conaty is saying, and I am in agreement with it. It is right that in addition to the framework and the legislation that should accompany it there should be some ability for compellability. It sounds to me as if we want to set some kind of minimum standard or floor for the supports that people who have a caring role should be entitled to. Perhaps I am wrong about that. If there is a floor, we need to have a sense of the circumstances in which it would come into play, although perhaps not today. That can be teased out during a constitutional convention process.

I will put my final question to all the witnesses. There has been discussion, particularly in the North following on from the Good Friday Agreement, of a bill or charter of rights or something to that effect. Would there be value in a bill or charter of rights in the State to complement the constitutional provisions of the kind anticipated here or any other constitutional provisions, including with regard to socio-economic rights?