Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thank you very much, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I appreciate it.

As director of elections for the referendum campaign I wish to take this opportunity to thank the Opposition parties for their cross-party support for the referendum. I also wish to thank groups such as the Legal Aid Board, the National Women's Council of Ireland, One Family, the Law Society of Ireland, separated.ie, Liberty, the Children's Rights Alliance and the many solicitors and barristers who assisted as well. I also wish to thank Ms Justice Tara Burns, who led the Referendum Commission in providing helpful information that was delivered to all homes in an impartial and factual manner.

I regard the passing of the referendum and this legislation as a huge personal achievement, because when I was first elected I thought long and hard about how I could use my own professional experience as a family law mediator and a lawyer to help make people's lives better. That is why I introduced my Private Members' Bill as expeditiously as I could five months after I was elected on 6 July 2016. I was a member of the minority Government formed in May of that year, but we did not know how long the Government was going to last and, therefore, we had to move quickly.

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