Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is absolutely irrelevant because there was no political agenda involved in this and it had nothing to do with Mr. Justice McMahon. As I have said already, we acted in good faith and wished to uphold the principles that apply here. Clearly, numerous surveys have shown that people wanted more information.

I have listened to all of the vox-pops and to the avalanche of cynicism about this but the fundamental issue is that a clear majority of people took the time to go out to vote for the referendum proposal which changes the treatment of children in the future. This issue has been debated for over 20 years but within 18 months this Government put the question and it has been answered very clearly. It is far more important than Deputy Martin is allowing. He should wait for the final, comprehensive reasons in the full judgment of the Supreme Court. What we have now is the court's preliminary judgment. It does not, for instance, spell out the paragraphs that are at issue in its decision.

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