Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I say that not complacently but to make the point that the reason this is so is that we have a written Constitution and that ordinary citizens bring the Oireachtas and the Government to court, and beat them, on a regular basis by reference to the same rights, however stated in the Constitution.

Four of the cases involved what might be broadly described as sexual and family themes. I can say fairly and without being guilty of caricaturing them they were cases where attitudes in Ireland on sexual and family matters – they were certainly attitudinal on the part of the Judiciary in interpretation – were at variance with what would be internationally thought to be fundamental rights and liberties in these areas.