Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

As someone who tabled a number of amendments, it is appropriate to pay tribute to the Government for bringing forward the legislation. I pay tribute too to the staff of the Department, who throughout the negotiations in Croke Park and in preparation for the legislation were an admirable example of an activist Department operating out of a rights perspective. They deserve our admiration for that. For the future of humanity, I wish this legislation the maximum number of signatories and ratification. I hope it has the effect everyone in the House wants.

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