Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The position is that following the death of Shane Geoghegan, everyone in this House was revulsed by what happened and all Members were asked to do whatever was necessary to deal with such issues. Members were ad idem on this matter in the House. While I acknowledge this legislation is extremely tough, very tough items of legislation have been introduced to the House over the years. It is inappropriate for any Member to comment on the role of the President. As an independent officer, it is her prerogative to decide what she must do, one way or the other. It would be most inappropriate to refer to it at all in this House in the context of this legislation.

A total of 12.5 hours has been provided for the discussion. If other legislative items on the Order Paper today are completed much earlier, that would give even more time for consideration by the House.

See this speech in context