Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to Senator Moynihan. In tabling these amendments, I wanted to hear a broad range of views from parties around the Chamber. I welcome the contributions so far; Senator Boyhan has yet to speak. It was remiss of me in my opening remarks not to acknowledge the work Senator Ruane did around the votes at 16 Bill and this issue more generally.

I will say a couple of things in advance of whatever response the Minister of State will make. The matter has been referred to by some of his Government colleagues. I look forward to hearing what the Minister of State has to say on it. A couple of things jumped to mind during the debate so far. Senator Ruane talked about her experience of wanting to be an altar girl. I was not allowed to serve on the altar because I went to a Gaelscoil rather than the local parish school. Maybe that is where my political awareness all started from, like that of Senator Ruane, way back when.