Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 1 December 2016

Select Committee on Justice and Equality

Business of Committee

9:00 am

Photo of David StantonDavid Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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A number of issues have arisen. First, I retract what I said earlier having listened to Deputy O'Callaghan's comments on his thinking and work in this area. I thank him for bringing this to the notice of the committee. He was busy over the past few days and it is right to bring it to the attention of the committee. I acknowledge that and thank him.

Second, we need more time to examine this new revelation and think about it. I thank the Chairman for giving us the 15-minute break but I will probably need more time. The first three sections of the Bill relate to what might happen in the Supreme Court. Would members consider not allowing them to stand? In other words, when we come to put the question on whether the sections stand part of the Bill, we would allow them to fall. They would then be deleted from the legislation. There are other important sections, which are not impacted by possible Supreme Court action, that we could debate and decide on now. That is a reasonable proposition. If it is agreed, we could reinstate the other three sections on Report Stage and debate them then. This would mean we could proceed with the remainder of the Bill, which contains important proposals and at least we would have some work done. That would cover the concerns raised by the Deputy and give us more time to examine them. I am interested in whether members agree with that suggestion.