Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

The Minister may be slightly confused because we have moved between two amendments. I ask him to answer my question about the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which is important, as is the signature of the instrument for the International Court of Justice. I take the point about the textual nature of amendment No. 2. I was urging a move away from the slavish interpretation of the handbook toward drafting legislation according to more modern usage. It would be helpful for scholars and students in the future to be able to see the part of the Bill that was to be amended set out clearly and separately. It is, however, a matter of style and the amendment which follows is more important.

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