Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

All of us subscribe, although we may have differences of interpretation, to pluralism, which means that we object to any form of theocracy or religious ascendancy but equally to any form of secular totalitarianism. In this country we have a tradition going back 25 years of respect for people's consciences so that when one is talking about pregnancy advisory services, people should not be forced to engage in references that are against their conscience. I deplore attempts in Britain to force Catholic adoption agencies to act against their conscience. Given the Irish input into the Catholic church in Britain, representations should be made. We are talking about principles of civil and religious liberty that go back at least to the Glorious Revolution, which is fundamental to representative democracy. I worry that trend might spread to here. We must respect not just civil liberty but religious liberty as well.