Mr. John Dunne:

We welcome the referendum. I understand the Government's original idea was just to delete the offending section in the Constitution, if I can use the language. We said "No" to that, pointing to the reference to the value of care in the home, which should not be deleted. If it had not been there, we might not fight to put it in but as it is there, we certainly would fight not to take it out. We recognise and welcome that it is there.

The point about not going far enough is simply that I am seriously concerned, looking at the polls, that the referendum is there to be lost and could be lost. The criticism from within our community, and we are getting a lot of criticism for taking a "Yes, Yes" position, is on the basis that we have not consulted and had an internal vote. My attitude is that we are exercising leadership in terms of what we think is the right way to go. Everybody has a vote on the day and that is the appropriate way to approach a referendum. The argument is that words like "strive" and "endeavour" have not delivered in the past and will not deliver in the future. That is unfortunate, given the year that is in it in terms of the health budget, not so much in terms of the recruitment embargo as in terms of the games that are going on. I do not use that word in a derogatory sense but the gaming that is going on around the health budget this year is not helpful. There had been things in the pipeline as part of the roll-out of supports for carers that have just stopped for this year. Carers are looking at a proposal for constitutional reform that is sponsored by a Government and an organisation whose words are not being matched by their actions in the current year. That is definitely provoking a strong reaction on the ground.