David Norris (Independent)

—— and let them bleed to death, why do we describe them as aggressive? Let us have a bit of reality.

I agree that the episode should be looked at in the context of the Border and I listened to what Senator O'Toole said about passports. We already have a passport situation. The real Government of Ireland — I speak of Michael O'Leary and Ryanair — makes us produce our passports at the airport, so why should the British not do it? It will certainly put the cat among the Unionist pigeons. They will discover how united their kingdom is at the end of the day.

I want to raise the question of the civil registration and domestic partnership Bill which I had hoped to introduce, but for technical reasons this will not happen until at least after Christmas. I would welcome it if the Government introduced the Bill in its own time because the situation is becoming urgent. I have a file of e-mails from people, including one from an Irish citizen who points out that last April the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform transposed the free movement directive into Irish law. This means that an EU citizen from outside Ireland can freely bring his or her partner, of the same or opposite sex, into the country but an Irish citizen resident here has no such right. There is this extraordinary anomaly and we are lagging behind. We discussed it in the previous Seanad. I hope there will be the same consensus in both Houses. There is time for us to bite the bullet on this issue and I look forward to the Leader indicating whether he will allow Government time for it. If not, I will have to introduce it after Christmas.