Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin welcomes the passage of the Bill, which is part of the outworkings of the Fresh Start agreement. It is a pity that many of the promises in previous agreements have not been delivered as quickly as this one as we would not be in the current lacuna in terms of setting up the Executive. It behoves all of us in the House, and outside it, to be as constructive as possible rather than squeaking from the sidelines to try to ensure that progress is made, that we have a working assembly and Executive and that we can move forward as was intended in a number of agreements going back as far as the Good Friday Agreement. In particular, we are moving towards an all-island approach in this legislation. If we did that in all of our endeavours, we would be a lot further down the road towards the stability and peace that was envisaged in the Good Friday Agreement and which is intended by this Bill.

I welcome the Bill's passage and I hope that it will add to our society rather than detract.

However, it is only part of both the work we must do and the apparatus necessary to bring us to the point that was envisaged when people in this State and in the North voted for the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

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