Michael McCarthy (Labour)

It depends on how far-stretched my resources will be.

Senator Henry raised an important point in regard to the lack of value people may place on taking an oath and the manner in which people can be disrespectful towards taking an oath. The majority of good thinking people are not like that, but there are people who will say anything to get them out of a situation. This has been borne out in recent years in evidence given in high profile cases by high profile people. There has been a direct contradiction in evidence given under oath and factual information, which comes out at some stage. This demonstrates the fact that the oath and the Interpretation Act need to be revisited. Our information is that the Interpretation Act does not cover this issue. We will table amendments until there is a review of the Interpretation Act or until the area is examined and affirmation is possibly inserted. The Parliamentary Counsel could perhaps use this standard insertion in future legislation. However, we will revisit the matter on Report Stage.