Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The view is that we cannot ask people to decide on a substantive issue like this, and there are a number of very important issues, without spelling out the comprehensive legislation. We have done that in all cases since the divorce referendum. It is a practice we followed in a number of other referendums; the Deputy pressed me to do that. We would not be listening to the NGO groups if we did not put out the substantive detail on this; it would get into a very controversial area. That is the view of the Ministers and officials who have been dealing with this issue.

We have not fixed a precise date. We are talking about the same timeframe the Deputy mentioned, namely, the end of April into mid-June. We now have the draft legislation on which we would like to consult with Deputy Kenny and Deputy Gilmore, their spokespersons or legal people as quickly as possible.

Three issues arise. The legislation will be before this House by early March, or even late February, depending on how long the consultation on that takes. We have followed exactly the same format that was used in the Single European Act, Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice. We have not changed the model. It is one with which we and our legal people will be familiar. A White Paper in Irish and English from the Department of Foreign Affairs is ready. There is also the matter of the setting up of the Referendum Commission. It has indicated it would like a period of 90 days and that would normally be from the time of the publication of the Bill. If we could get that done by the end of the month, it would get the full 90 days — March, April and May. We are well advanced to move on it.

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