Alex White (Labour)

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 16, subsection (1), line 5, after "text" to insert "in the English language".

This could essentially be described as a drafting amendment. It seeks to amend the section that deals with the interpretation of the term "Hague Convention". The Bill states:

"Hague Convention" means the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption, 1993, the text of which, subjection to subsection (3), is set out for convenience of reference in Schedule 2;...

My amendment is that it should include the words "in the English language" after the word "text" in line 3 for the simple reason that only the English text of the Hague Convention is annexed but there is also a French text, which is equally authentic.

The concluding paragraph of the convention, which is on page 116 of the Bill, states the convention was "Done at the Hague, on the 29th day of May 1993, in the English and French languages, both texts being equally authentic".

We in this country are used, by way of interpretation, to having regard to the Irish language as well as the English language, preferring the Irish language constitutionally. It is not the same point but, by analogy, we should also have regard to the fact that there is a French language version of the Hague Convention which the Bill declares to be equally authentic. I see no reason we could not include the words "in the English language" because the reference in the section of which we speak is to the English language text rather than to both.