Rónán Mullen (Independent)

Perhaps I should not have interrupted the Minister of State when he was raising the question of sincerity. I should have waited for an opportunity to comment on it myself. I will do so now, with apologies. I want to make it clear that I was not impugning the Minister of State's sincerity or that of any individual member of the Government. The Minister of State is wrong if he imagines that I was doing so just because I did not name everyone individually. The contributions of the Seanad representatives of the Government parties have been, for the most part, in support of the amendments proposed by Senator Alex White and me on this matter. I was not doubting the sincerity of those contributions. The Minister of State has not made a cogent argument in support of his refusal to accept those amendments. He does not appear to have the support of his party in so doing. I mentioned the curse of the party whip system in that context.