Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I thank the Chair. I am not criticising any individual officials.

I do not intend to delay the debate, but I would like to highlight the reasons for my amendments. I want to outline the options that would have been available to the All-Party Committee on the Constitution if it had been allowed to examine and discuss the proposed amendment and to make suggestions on the Bill. The Government has dealt with this proposal in a manner that would not be generally recommended for dealing with legislation. When one is proposing to change the law, a constitutional amendment should be used only as a last resort. There are other ways of dealing with problems that arise. We acknowledge that a problem has arisen and that a loophole exists, but the matter should be considered in its fullest context. Are ways other than a constitutional amendment available to help us to close the loophole? The Government chose to solve the problem by holding a referendum without giving adequate time for interested parties, such as the All-Party Committee on the Constitution, the Human Rights Commission and many others, to express their views. Such bodies would have been glad to have, given their opinions if they had been asked to do so. We should not be dealing with this problem in such a manner.

I do not agree that the proposed referendum should take place on 11 June, as the local and European elections are taking place on that day. If the Government proceeds with its plans to hold the referendum on that date, I pray that racist comments will not be made as part of the debate on the matter during the local election campaign. The Minister is aware, as all Senators are, that certain individuals will use the referendum campaign to secure votes in the local elections in an opportunistic manner. Some people will use racism if they think it is the popular thing to do, but we should try to ensure that an opportunity to operate in such a manner is not presented to them. The holding of a referendum at the same time as the local elections is not the best way to proceed. We would have preferred if there had been more debate, if more time had been provided and if a more appropriate date for the referendum had been selected. My amendments present the Minister with various options, although I doubt if he will consider them at this late stage. I have outlined the reasons for the amendments.