Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I thank Deputy O'Rourke for rushing in to the bearna baoil when I was detained elsewhere due to other business. I assure her it is not a case of the other Opposition party, as she referred to us, not wanting to speak.

This Bill has been stripped out from the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. This was a suggestion the Fine Gael spokesperson, Deputy Flanagan, and I put to the former Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Brian Lenihan, and he took it on board. It is right that we have stand-alone legislation in this area. It is a modest reform. I would not be as enthusiastic or as over-the-top as some of the comments I have heard about it. There are many consumers of the legal profession and the question they will ask is whether the Bill goes far enough. I support it as far as it goes, but I argue that it is a modest measure.

If we were to ask the National Consumer Agency to do a survey and, as we all know, apparently, that is what it does.

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