Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I sincerely thank all Senators for their erudite contributions. I am sorry for only being here for the last hour of what was no doubt a very interesting debate in which very many interesting points were raised. I am sure Committee Stage will be very interesting.

Senator Jim Walsh raised a point about the involvement of the Human Rights Commission. To clarify the position, the commission will have no automatic right to be heard in these or any other cases arising outside the Bill. A balance has to be struck between its role in advising the court and the court making a decision on whether the commission should be allowed to get involved on the facts of each case. What will happen is that the commission will be notified about the making of a possible declaration of incompatibility. It will then have the right to apply to the court on whether it should be heard. The court will have to weigh up a number of factors, the primary one being, as the Minister said, the paramount need to be fair to the parties concerned. That will be the extent of the commission's involvement.

Senator Henry's references to the criticisms of the Bill, particularly section 5, were based on a reading of the section which was not correct. The position has been explained at length by the Minister in the interim and we can deal with the details on Committee Stage.