Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

This is very exciting legislation. As the Minister of State was talking I thought about all those centuries ago when clerks would have been bent over desks with very bad light thinking how they would write a Bill, whom it would affect and whether it would be beneficial to the people. I am well aware that the legislators of the time would have been of the elite class and would not have been elected by democracy — or at best by a rough form of democracy. Certainly women did not have much of a say in the Parliament, in the making of the Bills or as voters. I think back to the people who drafted the Bills and the pressures that led to the need for the Bills. There must have been riots, marches, petitions, lobbying, etc., before Bills were produced. It is interesting that these two countries were governed for so long by properly enacted laws, which is also exciting. A country governed by statutes has a certain authority and stability.

The Minister of State hoped that we would continue to support him and his office in what he is doing. I wholeheartedly say that we will. If he has 20 more Bills, either in his present role or in some future manifestation, we will be very pleased to take them here. I congratulate Richard Humphreys and his team, and the Attorney General's team.