Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I think he is getting very fond of us. He seems to be coming here a little more often than he did previously. I feel a little shy about speaking after listening to such expertise among those who have spoken up to now. That expertise has come from different areas. Senator O'Donovan reminded us of what happens in a smaller solicitors' office in a smaller town. Senator Bacik spoke on the basis of her experience at the Bar Council and elsewhere. It has been very interesting. However, I should say I am not that shy. I am sure the Minister of State was not born when I defended a case that went to the Supreme Court. I won in the Supreme Court on the basis of something I had learned when I was studying constitutional law at university, which is that the Irish language takes precedence over the English language if there is a doubt about a word. The relevant word in my case was "discrimination". I discovered that the Irish-language word was "idirdhealú", which means "distinguish between". I won it on that basis in 1971, which I expect was long before the Minister of State was born.