Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I thank all the Deputies who made contributions concerning this important piece of legislation. There was a high level of cross-party support for the Bill and I very much welcome that. I was struck by the quality of the debate. It says a lot for the way in which we, as a society, have moved on. Many Deputies referred to what was termed a "new reality" and this legislation is indicative of the dramatic changes that have taken place in our society in the past ten to 20 years.

However, when the Bill was published, it was clear it did not satisfy everybody. There were those who said it did not go far enough and others who said it went much too far. As I indicated in my speech at outset of this Second Stage debate, in drafting the legislation I appreciate that other parties made contributions in its regard. I will make one point lest anybody thinks my party was dragged into this legislation. In our manifesto, long before there was any talk of our being in Government with any other party before the last election, my party indicated clearly that if we were re-elected to Government we would move on this legislation as quickly as possible. We have done so.

Returning to those references about what other parties contributed, the reality is they did this work in the luxury of Opposition. This is very detailed complex legislation and any political parties in Government must deal with all types of legislation on the basis of advice from the Attorney General, his office and that of the Parliamentary Counsel. They have an absolute obligation under the Constitution to ensure that any legislation which is brought forward is constitutionally sound. They cannot merely write it on the back of an envelope. I do not say this to criticise the Opposition. We were in Opposition too in our day.

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