Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I congratulate the Deputy Leader.From working with her in recent years, I genuinely feel that she has shown herself to be an extremely independent person and an independent thinker. She has been rewarded by being selected and now she has to go and do the hard work. I wish her well in that.

On the referendum, I am becoming more and more concerned at what I believe are the attempts to usurp the McKenna judgment by NGOs that are largely funded by the State. In fact, up to 97% of their funding comes from the State. They are out there canvassing for a "Yes", which they are perfectly entitled to do. I have no difficulty whatsoever with that, but I do believe their accounts will have to be audited at the end of this process to establish if money that was provided by the State was used to fund posters, advertisements or any aspect of the campaign. This is after all a referendum and the rules are very clear as to how we should behave ourselves.

It is interesting to note that some NGOs have now started to realise that this referendum does not offer the disabled or their carers the things that are promised. I am also deeply concerned because some Ministers have been putting out misinformation. One of the Deputy Leader's own colleagues admitted on TV in recent days that a durable relationship is not equal to a marriage and that people in durable relationships may find that they have to go to the courts to establish rights for their families. We must be very honest with people. We must make sure that misinformation is nipped in the bud and that anything that is given out stands - that it can be legally challenged and proved in court. For example, striving to assist the disabled or carers does not provide any legal obligation on the State to look after them.

Once again, I congratulate Senator Doherty on her selection. I am sorry to throw that at her this afternoon.