Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

It is not a question of long-fingering. Recently, I made the point that one must consider constitutional change with great care. In recent times there has been a trend in our politics to change the Constitution every time we have a problem. From my study of it in the past and my knowledge of it in the present, the Constitution is a document of which we can all be very proud. Constitutional change must be very carefully considered but that does not mean one should not deal with issues or come up with new ideas to see what way we can better frame our arrangements to enhance the institutions of the State in the eyes of our citizens. I have no problem with that. The idea that emerged from political discussions among the Government parties was to ask an electoral commission to examine it.

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