Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for his comments on his approach to the holding of the referendum. I acknowledge the work done by Mary O'Rourke as Chairman of the committee during the 64 meetings it held on the issue. There is a huge body of work in which we all took part. We are trying to draft a wording which will be as close as possible to the committee's wording. As Deputy Ó Caoláin was also a member of the committee, he knows the work that was done.

The adoption legislation had to be started from scratch, but a lot of work has been done on it. I do not have a precise date for the introduction of that legislation which is different from the tracing legislation, on which we are also working. This legislation will deal primarily with the impact on adoption, the voluntary placement of children for adoption and the time period involved if children of married parents become eligible for adoption and the conditions that would apply in such circumstances. I am not in a position to say when the legislation will be published, but there is a huge amount of work being done. I will be in a better position to say in a few weeks time when it will be published.

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