Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

It is interesting to note that the power conferred on the House by Article 35 of the Constitution is conferred on each House and in that regard this is one of those areas in the Constitution where the Seanad has equal status with the Dáil in that neither House is superior to the other in any respect.

The Constitution regulates the position regarding judges of the High Court and Supreme Court. A statutory provision relates to Circuit Court judges and mirrors the language of the Constitution. Senator Terry, understandably, asked about the unprecedented rush regarding these items of legislation. The reason for the urgency is that further steps are imminent in this matter. It is a matter of public record that there has been correspondence between the Government and a judge of the Circuit Court. It is also a matter of public record that further steps on the matter are imminent. Naturally, the Government is anxious the legal ground be clear-cut and that any matter of concern is put beyond doubt.

Senator Terry rightly raised the matter of previous advices of the Attorney General. The Attorney General has received a great deal of advice on this matter. Ultimately, however, he must advise the Government on what are the best steps to take. His advice to the Government has been to err on the side of caution and to ensure that all doubts are addressed.

Senator Brian Hayes indicated that there may be some constitutional arguments regarding the privileges and powers of the Houses and that we do not necessarily need all this legislation. That may be the case, but why let doubts remain? We should clarify the matter and put it beyond doubt by way of legislation. The Government and the Attorney General believe we should put this matter beyond doubt given the imminence of the next step.

Senator Walsh and Senator Tuffy welcomed the Bill and raised the more general issue of child pornography. Senator Tuffy also asked for a debate on child pornography in general. I have no objection to such a debate. I would be delighted to inform the House of the progress we are trying to make in this difficult area. There are many serious concerns about the Internet, the images that can be portrayed on it and their availability to children and the general population and the linkages between that and various social trends. While it would be a worthwhile debate, it is not for me to pre-empt the Seanad in terms of what it wishes to discuss.

I thank Senators for their contributions. We all realise the gravity of the situation. Not since 1922 — the current State, as I am fond of pointing out, was founded in 1937 by vote of the people — has a judge been brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas. It is necessary for us to ensure the legislative scaffolding to deal with this matter is in place.