James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to respond to some of the comments made by Senator Craughwell. I wish to place on the record that my background, notwithstanding being a medical doctor, involves a trade union, that being the Irish Medical Organisation. I value very much what unions do and the protections they give their members. I am also familiar with the fact that how the rulings of the Competition Authority were interpreted has led to huge difficulty, not just for members of Equity but also for many other trade unions which found themselves unable to represent their members. Some of these issues have been resolved through various methodologies, but this has not addressed the issue Senators Bacik and Nash seek to have addressed through the Bill, which I and the Government support. Let there be no doubt about this.

My issue with Senator Craughwell is that to refer to the Attorney General's opinion as just an opinion is unwise and discourteous. She is the highest law officer of the land. The function of this Chamber and Dáil Éireann is to improve and proof legislation so it is robust and will not fall. In deference to the people in the Visitors Gallery, who have come in their own time and, God knows, their time is valuable, I do not want to see a situation arise whereby we rush through a Bill and then find we run into trouble with it and it is struck down, and so we set back the agenda we are trying to address by another six, 12 or 18 months.

As a Minister I was very happy to start Bills in the Seanad and get all of the arguments addressed, make amendments which others offered and accept Bills proposed by other Members. One of the first Bills I put through here was Senator Bacik's Bill on female genital mutilation. This does a good service to the Dáil because a Bill will then go through the Dáil Chamber very quickly. I strongly believe the Minister is genuine in her intention that we want to get the amendments right over the summer and have them debated here in October. The Bill should then pass through the Dáil without any problems. This has been the experience with several other Bills. I hope the House will accept the bona fides of the Minister and the Government. The House is agreed on the need to protect workers, particularly those in Equity who, in recent years, have been left with little protection and have been exploited. I certainly do not agree with this and I know the Minister does not either.