John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I agree with my colleague, Senator McHugh, who raised the issue of the letter from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. It is surprising to have received the letter yesterday following his mealy-mouthed apology the previous day for his outrageous remarks on Monday. We received this letter of justification for his stance yesterday evening. I regard the letter in the same way as Senator McHugh and I am sure many others. Serious issues were raised by Deputy Bruton and others and the Minister would be more usefully employed if he tackled these issues rather than trying to justify his stance and his outrageous behaviour on Monday.