Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I have not all that much time and the Deputy should let me make my point. I have listened very carefully to all our colleagues, both here in the Chamber and in my room via the monitor. People are entitled to make their case. It is an important debate and, as I said, the attendance in the House yesterday proved that. It is a pity that some of the contributions yesterday bordered on hysteria, since that does not help or send a positive message about the workings of Dáil Éireann to the public. I hope that matters will become more regular with people viewing the referendum in the correct light, during whatever time is left to us today and in the debate generally.

Many of the misconceptions of our colleagues from the Opposition benches have more to do with the political climate than the referendum itself. Having listened to the Taoiseach yesterday, he put the Government position very clearly. It was a very fair and fine speech and I hope it will influence some of the thinking of our colleagues.

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