Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I fully respect Senator Higgins and she has great experience in this area but I have real reservations about putting in a minimum figure of 51%. We all want to get there but there are going to be great challenges in getting there. We need to bring people and the public with us and we are doing a good job in that.If the Minister starts by putting in a minimum of 51%, which I do not say is a bad idea, he will lose people in the process. This is a significant challenge for all politicians and we want to achieve it. If, however, we start using language like that, we will end up alienating the people we are desperately trying to bring on board. We want people to make changes and we must help them along. The Minister has consistently stated that we need to help people, support them and finance them where changes must be made. I certainly would not like to see a reference to a minimum of 51% included.