Rónán Mullen (Independent)

——one has no right to expect preferment. I am asking the Leader to name a date for our discussion on the media.

I wish to mention a point made by Breda O'Brien in The Irish Times last weekend which is also apposite. She asked, "Would people who support a derogation from teaching religion for atheistic teachers, also support the right of religious believers not to carry out a civil partnership ceremony for a gay or lesbian couple?" We will have a sensitive debate in the coming weeks and months about the civil partnership legislation.