Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I rise to support Senator Mullen on the Civil Partnership Bill. I had not thought it out until he spoke but if it is the intention to have the Civil Partnership Bill taken after the Dáil has risen then we are wasting our time in having the debate unless there is a willingness to accept amendments. I would like some form of guarantee from the Leader that at least we will be listened to on any Bill we take after the Dáil has risen. I am not sure how one does that but I imagine we will have to take the Civil Partnership Bill before the Dáil has risen so we can propose amendments and know they can be accepted.

The Leader will recall when Senator Ross discovered a flaw in the public opinion aspect of the Electoral (Amendment) Bill on the very last day after the Dáil had risen. I recall that on the evening he discovered the flaw the Leader accepted that and within minutes the Bill collapsed. That is not going to happen this time unless there is a commitment that the debate will take place either before the Dail rises or we ensure we will not find ourselves in a situation where no amendments are accepted. That is an important point. I am pleased Senators Mullen and Coghlan have raised it.

We have been worried about costs and we have talked about the cost of the legal profession. There have been a number of discussions in recent days on the cost of other products in the Twenty-six Counties. Yesterday the euro reached its lowest level since its introduction against the Swiss franc. We may well say that every time it drops in value it is of benefit to exporters but it means the cost of everything we import increases. We are inclined only to measure ourselves against sterling which has not been doing very well against other currencies. Let us recognise the difficulties associated with trying to build the economy when the euro has a low valuation. We should be trying to build the economy while the euro has a high valuation, as others have done, and obtain the benefit. A low valuation makes life much easier for exporters but much more difficult for importers, particularly importers of fuel and other products that affect almost everything we do. Let us recognise that it is not all good news when the euro has a low valuation; it is considerably bad news for all of us in Ireland who must purchase and produce goods.