Katherine Zappone (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Senator Mooney inferred from my opening remarks that I was indicating that he should curtail his remarks or that we should not have a proper debate. My point was that we have very little time left to debate anything related to Seanad reform. We requested a number of times that Government give us time to debate this Bill and we were not given that time. It is within that context that I requested that people be brief in their remarks, not to restrict our opportunity to hear the brilliant contributions of every Senator.

On Senator Mooney's comment on section 2 about the relevant Irish embassy or consulate, he has made a reasonable point. The current provision in the Bill was the best measure we could identify at that time to reach out to the diaspora. If there are suggestions of how to make it more inclusive we would of course be open to that.