Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. I am not satisfied with it because I do not believe she makes any issues clearer. This amendment was considered carefully by me and it has been the subject of legal analysis. I am trying to do my job here. I do not believe the way this section is drafted meets the standard elsewhere in the Bill. If it leads to problems in the future, on the Minister's head be it. She may be Taoiseach at that stage and will not mind too much. She will find a way to explain it all away and perhaps blame it on the draftspersons.

I do not think I can be faulted for spotting an issue that I believe is very relevant to a goal the Minister says she wants to achieve, which is to protect from interference the current forms of ceremonies being used by different religious bodies. It would be in the interest of the State for it to continue as it is with religious bodies that are in the business of marrying people also having a civil role. I do not have a particular view on whether they should continue to have that role. I have friends who were married in France. They went to the registry office one day and to the church the next. That may be the way of the future. I do not have a particularly strong view one way or the other.

I believe my friend, Senator Zappone, fell short of her usual standard in attempting to characterise the length of my contribution as being somehow problematic. I do not think it was even the lengthiest contribution on today's Committee Stage, as I look to my left. However, even if it was I am doing my best to set out -----