Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----Emily Logan, rather - Amnesty International Ireland, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and, significantly, Mrs. Justice Catherine McGuinness, the retired Supreme Court judge who is an expert in this area and a former Member of Seanad Éireann. There are persons who, for some strange reason, seem to have no respect for Supreme Court judgments, who seem to have no level of understanding of the status of the former Supreme Court justice and who think themselves above her. It is significant that we acknowledge the role she will play in the context of the debate, far be it from us to second guess someone of that stature in terms of how she assigned judgments to various issues.

I welcome this debate. I look forward to a robust exchange. I hope the issues of the McKenna judgment can be addressed in the context of wider referenda and while maintaining the integrity of people's democratic right to participate in debate.

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