Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the cross-party support for this Bill, and the hard work and dedication of Senator Bacik in preparing it. It is now on Report Stage. I fully support the sentiment behind the amendment, but I ask Sinn Féin not to press it at this stage. There will be more opportunities to tease it out further. The Senator made a very good point about the class A fine of €5,000. I do not have a legal background, but that would go through the District Court. If the defendant is hit with a €5,000 fine at that point, he or she will also have been hit with the publicity of a prosecution therefor. That is the point. It is not the sum of €5,000. If the case goes to the District Court, it will be publicised by the media. I have not taken legal advice on this, but Sinn Féin's amendment could be open to challenge unless there is a conviction. I am open to correction there. I will not refer to the next stage. I will just deal with the amendment. That is my view on it.

I appeal to the Minister of State. A certain amount of energy has been spent in the House to get this to Report Stage. The fastest way to get legislation through would be to amend the Bill in front of the House this evening, let it go to the Dáil and accept amendments there. Let us work in a co-operative fashion to get this legislation on the Statute Book before Christmas. I think that is fully achievable. The Minister of State has done a certain amount of work on this as well. The Labour Party acknowledges his support, but we want to get this legislation on the Statute Book as quickly as possible.

I ask Sinn Féin not to press its amendment. Let us look at it again and investigate it for the next Stage. We have a commitment from our party that our members will use their time in the Dáil to bring this Bill forward. It has been talked about for too long. I remember the pressure to get pay equality measures over the line in 1999 during the tenure of the then Deputy Proinsias De Rossa. I feel the same now. There is a window during which we can get this over the line if we all work together. If we work on a cross-party basis in this House, in the Dáil and with the Minister of State, this can be achieved. I ask Sinn Féin not to press its amendment.