Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

He reminds me of a good friend of mine, a committed Dublin supporter, who once had to do teaching practice in Meath and had to convince all the children of the merits of supporting the Meath football team, which really went against his ethics. Not to belittle the point that has been made, the difficulty we have here is a procedural one because it has been two years since we had this conversation in this House. There are various reasons for that, but we are here now. We cannot accept the amendment on Committee stage. It makes much more sense to do so on Report Stage when the Government amendments are published. The proper context can then be given and a proper discussion can then be had as to reasons various amendments can, should or may not be accepted. I appreciate the Senator's position. We are on amendment No. 4, but we are having a broader debate now on the substance of the entirety of the Bill. I think it would be more appropriate do this on Report Stage but I appreciate what everybody here is saying. We have gone off into whole new area with what Senator Norris said, which will probably capture most of the headlines, but we need to focus back on the procedural element, which is what we are doing on Committee Stage. Report Stage will be taken next week. I accept there is a problem with the procedural elements in the House of having such a long delay between the last discussion two years ago and the discussion we are having now.