Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I add my voice to the overwhelming support this referendum enjoys in this House and to commend the Minister for her work to date. As previous speakers have stated, this is a referendum that has been campaigned for and awaited for years. I do not believe that any judge in the High Court or the Supreme Court would have intended an outcome that would jeopardise the actual referendum going ahead. It unquestionably should go ahead as nothing has changed with the substance of the proposed amendment and I urge people in the first instance to be sure to exercise their vote and obviously to vote "Yes".

While I mentioned this point on the Order of Business this morning, a number of weeks ago I expressed concern and foresaw a situation which has arisen with the "No" side, whereby people are given a voice in this referendum campaign who have no substance to their argument. Members have referred to the making of incredibly inaccurate statements and I refer to the situation to which Senator van Turnhout alluded, in which a certain individual had appeared on radio to speak against her and who was speaking untruths. No amount of clarifications will rectify the fact that a huge number of people will have heard her first statement and will be misinformed as to the substance of what she was saying. I am heartened by the cross-party support this evening. I hope people will come out to vote and I urge them to vote"Yes" in favour of children.