Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)

My view is that since the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has been working on a particular Bill up to now, and I have asked the officials to expedite this matter to see if we can get it into the miscellaneous provisions Bill, that is probably the speedier method of getting it done. There is an advantage to being in government from the point of view of trying to get legislation through the House. I commend Opposition colleagues who bring in detailed Bills, such as the one presented here last Tuesday, but Deputy Ward knows himself that they require the use of Private Members' time. I would not oppose this Bill on Second Stage but I do think it will be quicker if it is done through the criminal law (miscellaneous provisions) Bill that I will be introducing later this year.

One of the tricky things about this, which the Bill Deputy Ó Snodaigh introduced recognises, is that there is a distinction between persons who were convicted for homosexual activity between consenting males - everyone recognises that if there was not consensual activity and if the individual was of a young age-----

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