Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State nonetheless and I am glad that he has appeared today. It is good that he is in the House for this debate because he has an expert knowledge of these matters.

Domestic violence is a serious matter and there is an urgent need for the Bill after the recent Supreme Court ruling. Irrespective of one's views on the matter, we cannot ignore the fact that the Supreme Court has determined that section 4(3) of the Domestic Violence Act, 1996 – passed by the Oireachtas having been brought forward by the former Minister, Mr. Mervyn Taylor – is defective constitutionally. When the courts make such a determination, we have to take the matter very seriously under our constitutional procedures. The Oireachtas is obliged to respond to an absence of rights that has been in place in relation to section 4(3) for the last six years. The amendments that Senator Terry and I will propose later attempt to implement both the letter and the spirit of the Supreme Court ruling, as set out some weeks ago.