Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

They, too, have taken careful note of many of the important points made.

While we are coming into the summer break - and I understand that Senators will finish up perhaps later this week or early next week - I do not anticipate that we will take Report Stage next week, nor in fact do I envisage we will take it immediately on resuming in September. Having regard to the fact that some weeks in August are weeks during which people traditionally have the opportunity to take a break, I see the month of September as being a time for reflecting on the next Stage of the Bill and on how to accommodate many of the important issues raised by Senators into legislation that, of course, must accord with the Constitution. I have taken very careful note of the views expressed by Senators as to the constitutionality of the legislation. I am satisfied, from my discussions with the Attorney General and the advices he has given me, that the Bill accords with our Constitution, as it should. Not only should our Bill be in strict accordance with the Constitution, but it should also be legally robust and practically workable. It is because of this that I believe we should now all go through the product, as completed in committee, with a fine-tooth comb and resume in September. I would be happy to engage along the lines proposed by Senator Bacik. We all need to work together. I would be very keen to have this legislation, which forms a fundamental pillar of A Programme for a Partnership Government, enacted in its entirety during the course of the autumn and into the winter.