Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)

I apologise to our witnesses because I will have to leave to speak in the Dáil. If I leave, I can catch up afterwards with the transcript.

It is my intention to submit the amendments that have been given to us by FLAC for consideration. We will have a chance on Committee Stage to discuss them in detail and, I hope, discuss them with members of the Department. Like Ms Barry, I am old enough to remember the original divorce referendum and the phrase, "Hello Divorce ... Bye Bye Daddy". I do not think that going backwards is really a good option. This is very decent legislation. It is progressive and good but there is a tiny piece missing that we need to get right.

Ms Barry said that the numbers involved were tiny. Will she give us an estimate? We have been asking the Department and it seems to be a fraction of even the people who will qualify.