Brendan Ryan (Labour)

We have managed to ramble a good deal on this issue but it is central to the Bill. I was taken by the Minister's description of the position in the United Kingdom. In the UK the judiciary is bound by an oath to the sovereign power, which is obliged to do whatever parliament says it can do. I share his dismissive view of the much vaunted British constitution. I have always believed that British citizens are more vulnerable to the power of the state than Irish citizens. In Ireland, there are clear limits beyond which the State cannot go. That was evident with the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Many of its operations could never have been implemented in this country.

Senator Norris has raised a genuine issue in his response to the Minister's concern. We do not want people to sue the courts. However, with regard to the Minister's assertion that this is about vertical rights and that he was reluctant to open up the area of horizontal rights, Article 4 deals with the prohibition of slavery and forced labour.