Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I compliment Fine Gael on facilitating the debate on this matter. I am somewhat dismayed that, as a result of the absence of various people, I am, pro tem, the family law reform spokesperson for this side of the House. However, that is no matter.

We all agree that this is a complicated and complex matter that needs to be carefully examined and that we must look before we leap. At an instinctive level — it is not my total response — I come at this issue with considerably less enthusiasm than Senator Browne. Earlier in the debate, there was an atmosphere that evoked the line: "Romantic Ireland's dead and gone." I had visions of a castle in west Cork——