Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hear what Senators Byrne and O'Donovan are saying, but as I said on Second Stage, we are here as legislators and not interpreting law. If somebody challenges this in the High Court or Supreme Court, so be it. If he is successful, that will reflect what the court has decided. The Minister has to bring this legislation before the House. There are commencement orders from 2010 that were not signed so we have a flaw in the legislation we passed in 2014. That is why we had to bring this to the House. While I accept what the Senators are saying, we cannot have this tested before we make the law. We have got to make the law and let somebody test it in the courts later if he wishes. We cannot wait until next January, February, March or April to do this; it must be done now. Legislation was needed immediately. I acknowledge that the Senators have concerns but it is important that we pass this legislation today. Let somebody make a constitutional challenge if he wishes.