Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

At the end of the day, there is a fine balance between us wanting to allow enough time for the debate and allowing enough time to submit amendments. That is the balance I am trying to strike in suggesting Monday afternoon. That allows both Members and the Bills Office some time. We will extend the time by as much as we can today, but there are many hours left today to get amendments submitted. I take the Senator's point, but we have to get this business done.

Senator Conway-Walsh raised the issue of the report of the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality. I have not had a chance to read it but I have heard Deputy Ó Caoláin talking about it on the radio this morning. My opinion differs from that of the committee. I do not believe that we are well served as women by the entire debate on the removal of a clause which implies that a woman's place is in the home from the Constitution being focused on carers as if women and carers are synonymous. I would have thought that the patriarchal society that led to that provision being in the Constitution in the first place is what needs to be discussed, along with the importance of a woman's role in life more generally. The report is what it is.