David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have much sympathy for the Minister?s position of having to formulate words that strike a balance. This goes back to the previous amendment as well. I accept that when we propose to add a formula of words - whether a number of words or one word - to the amendment, there are repercussions and issues that must be examined and teased out. It is important that we are having the debate. While additions might be well intentioned by those who propose them, they can, as the Minister said, have unforeseen consequences. I agree with the Government representatives and Senator van Turnhout. I listened to Senator Mullen?s contribution and I have a question for him. It is important that the people who propose the amendment tease out exactly what they mean. I share the view that this could potentially increase the threshold for intervention. I fully agree with Senator van Turnhout: the word ?proportionate? is important in the context of the overall provision. It is sufficient for me not to support the amendment but to support the provision as it stands.

Semantics are a huge part of the debate, as is the case in any referendum when people have different interpretations of what an amendment contains. We must be clear on what we mean. My question for Senator Mullen is this: if we include the words ?and significantly?, how do we define ?significant?? What does a court use as a benchmark for determining what is significant? It would raise serious problems for the courts. This is why I find it difficult to support the provision. Perhaps Senator Mullen could respond. We must be careful.

One of the reasons we have not tabled many amendments is that we are very conscious of the work the Minister had to do in striking a balance. We will have arguments around the Government amendments but I would be very concerned about putting words into the amendment that could have consequences for legal people and those in the courts who have to interpret what we mean. That is why it is important that we, as legislators, know what we mean when we wish to put into the Constitution words such as "and significantly". What does that phrase mean? What is the benchmark? How should it be interpreted? Those might be questions for Senator Mullen. If he gets an opportunity to return at some point he might be able to expand on or explain the point.