Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister back to the House on the final day of our sitting for this term. This week, we have been quite successful in passing and finalising legislation. After more than 100 hours, the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill completed Committee Stage. The Parole Bill was also passed and I hope this important legislation will swiftly move through the House. I commend Senators Clifford-Lee and Ó Donnghaile on their support for this important legislation. It is an incremental step in reconciliation. It is necessary in order to enable the police forces, An Garda Síochána, the PSNI and others, to deal with the legacy cases because people need closure and justice for reconciliation to progress in the direction in which we want it to.

It is a great pity that we have a political vacuum in Northern Ireland. I hope that the summer period will allow for some reflection on the difficulties and damage that this vacuum is causing, especially given what will happen on 31 October. The last thing we need on this island is a political vacuum in Northern Ireland. I hope we will see progress in that regard in the coming weeks rather than months. I thank everyone for their co-operation on this Bill and during the course of this very busy week.