James Heffernan (Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for once again attending the Seanad and engaging with Members on the detail of the legislation that will come before the House.

In putting this question, I am playing the Devil's advocate. While it may be a hypothetical situation, there is a push to have this issue put to a referendum of the people, regardless of what the Attorney General states. I received a letter from a Deputy in the Technical Group who is looking for a majority of the members of Seanad Éireann and not less than one third of the Members of Dáil Éireann to petition the President to put the issue to the Council of State. While the defection of Senator Eamonn Coghlan to the Fine Gael Party makes that less likely, if this issue were put to the people and defeated in a referendum, what consequences would that have for the Irish people?