James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I wish to state how pleased I am the Bill will finish its passage through the Houses of the Oireachtas in the Seanad, where it was initiated. I pay tribute to Senator Ivana Bacik's work on this area. The Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Bill was examined on Committee Stage in the Dáil on 9 February. At that juncture, as Senators might be aware, I introduced two amendments to the Bill.

The first was a technical amendment to update section 14 of the Bill following the enactment of the Biological Weapons Act 2011 last July. Section 14 amends the Schedule to the Bail Act 1997. The Schedule lists the offences defined as serious offences. Section 2 of the Bail Act provides for the circumstances in which bail may be refused for such offences. As a result of this amendment, the offences in the Bill related to sections 2 to 4, inclusive, will be added to the bail Schedule.

The second amendment was recommended by the Parliamentary Counsel to make specific provisions for the commencement of the Bill by way of ministerial order. These provisions are desirable to clarify that the Bill is not retrospective and to ensure nobody is charged under the Act until it is published in both official languages.