Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I have a brief supplementary for the Taoiseach. I gather from his response that he would like to see both referendums taking place on the one day, and that makes eminent sense because, hopefully, it would maximise participation. Is he concerned, however, given the timeframes that I have outlined in my original question, that the prospects of this being achieved are unlikely, because of constraints of time both as regards the new committee and in the context of whatever enabling legislation must be processed through both Houses of the Oireachtas? I am concerned and would like the Taoiseach to elaborate further since his response indicates they are unlikely to be held together on the same day. Given the pattern of referendum intervals, can he say whether there could be an inordinate delay before the children's referendum is placed before the people? Can he be somewhat more specific and give the House a further sense of his current understanding of the situation and what steps he believes may be taken to accommodate both referendums at the earliest opportunity, preferably on the one day?

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