Hear, hear.

Sentiment score: 0.00

I will not be opposing any amendments. Most of them are very technical, and a few of them are on significant issues. As I said previously, I believe in miscellaneous Bills. I brought them in myself. I have no issue with them, but this is one of the most mental Bills I have ever seen. The Minister laughed the last time I said that, and he is laughing this time. In fairness to him, I got what he said last time. We are getting to the summer break, so spirits are high and all of that. We could equally be here criticising the Minister for not doing stuff. Here we are on the second-last evening before the recess, and we are going through four different Bills. This is commendable on the part of the Minister, his officials, the Department, and all of that. This Bill, though, is so mental regarding the number of areas it covers. I have never, in my time in here, nearly 20 years, seen legislation so mental as regards the breadth and depth of issues. It is an A to Z of issues. Many of them could have been Bills on their own, while some of them could have been grouped together. The depth and breadth of issues here, however, is phenomenal. A few more have been thrown into this evening. There is also the matter of the structure by which so many amendments were being brought forward on different Stages. At times, it was actually quite difficult even to follow, which is never good, to be fair. I have said all this before, so I am not going to repeat it. I would not like to see this happening consistently. Having said all that, however, we will support the Bill. It is commendable that this House has finally dealt with a number of areas in the legislation. I acknowledge what the Minister said about my colleague, Senator Laura Harmon. She came to the Minister in relation to the sex-for-rent issue. I have to acknowledge the fact that the Minister has always commended her on this issue. She has always been a strong campaigner on this issue given her history of involvement in student politics. I also acknowledge the National Women’s Council of Ireland, NWCI, Women’s Aid, the Irish Council for International Students, ICOS, and the Rape Crisis Centre. I must acknowledge Ann Murphy of The Examiner too. In relation to LGBT and the issue of historical convictions, my colleague, Deputy Ged Nash, has worked on this issue for over a decade, which the Minister has acknowledged as well, along with other colleagues in this House. It is a very important and historic night. It was thought that this would happen later, but so many people I know will be so thankful for and welcoming of this aspect of the legislation. They will be in with us later tonight. The issue in relation to counselling notes is one we really had to have so much discussion about. It was a very difficult discussion. It was very intricate and very tricky. The test of time will apply. The jury is out - pardon the pun - in relation to this issue. I hope we have done the public the best service we can in relation to that issue. I am not going to rehash all the components because it came down to one or two words in the end; I just hope we are. As regards the aid to civil powers, the fact that has come in under this measure and the timing of it is a very strange development as regards how this Bill was brought forward. I would not like to see that again because it made very little sense as regards the timing and how the other Minister participated in a Bill brought forward by the Minister for justice. In the Labour Party, having gone through all the amendments, most are very technical. We will not oppose the amendments and will support the Bill.

Sentiment score: 0.09