Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also join with other Members who have congratulated the signatories to this Bill on the work involved in it. I do not know if I can say this definitively but physically it is probably the largest Private Members' Bill that has ever come before the House. There is an enormous amount of work in it and I recognise the acknowledgement of the work done by Dr. Maurice Manning and the committee which gave rise to this legislation. I know Dr. Manning very well. He was one of my lecturers and mentors, if I can say that, in college and the man who probably led me down the road of becoming a nerd with an interest in the Seanad despite not being a Seanad Member. We all recognise that the level of public interest in this House is much more limited than it should be. I acknowledge that much of the reason for that is the manner in which the House is constituted and the various issues that are dealt with in this Bill.