Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I thank my colleague, Deputy Howlin, for bringing this Bill back before the House. I also thank all Members who contributed to the debate, especially those who expressed support for the Bill.

I do not in any way dispute the personal commitment of the Acting Chairman, Deputy Cuffe, or that of his colleagues, to the Bill. I assure him that bringing the Bill back before the House was not intended to cause him political difficulty or embarrassment in any way. If one looks back on the history of the measures that have been proposed by the Labour Party in this House to modernise our laws and liberalise the way in which we conduct our affairs, it is evident we have always introduced them on their merits. I refer to the legalisation of contraception, the introduction of divorce, the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1993 and, likewise, this Bill.

The Acting Chairman and his party have been hopelessly outwitted and outmanoeuvred by their far more experienced Fianna Fáil colleagues who are pursuing an agenda on this issue that is a lot closer to the reactionary comments made by Deputy Mansergh——

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