-----and the National Women's Council can hear it from here.

Hang on a minute. The Cathaoirleach cut me off several times. Give a guy a break here.

Listen now. The year 1973, more than 50 years ago, was when the marriage ban disappeared, so let us be honest with people. Let us be straight. The judgment in the Supreme Court yesterday-----

-----changed the rules regarding children. I will speak more this afternoon.

I love the way the Cathaoirleach cut me off, I really do, but these things are important. Accurate, clear information for the public is what is needed, not rhetoric.

What a lesson I have had today in understanding what has been confusing for years. I am looking at the old wording of the Constitution, which states "The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home."

Senator Ruane remarked on the social welfare changes that forced single mothers to declare that they were available for work once their children turned 14. Was that complying with the Constitution as it stood at the time? I doubt it very much.

I understand exactly where the Senator is coming from. Speaking of being married or not married, a friend of my father for 33 years was married for seven years. When he separated from his wife, he moved in and lived with another woman. When he died 26 years later his pension was paid to his former wife, not to the woman he lived with. That was an anomaly. What I see in this constitutional referendum is that lawyers will make money for decades as we try to battle our way to understand what is meant by this, that or …

This is an important part of the amendment.

That is fine. It says that it will keep women from careers and employment. The Minister needs to address that, because that is another important issue that is impacting the way this referendum will go. I am afraid the wording we have at the moment is flawed. My colleagues on both sides this morning have shown the flaws. The Civil Engagement Group and Senator McDowell have shown the flaws, and the flaws lie in a failure to define the durable relationship. I will leave it at that. There has been plenty of talk and I …

Hear, hear.

Assuming there are bonds.

I wish to put on the record that I have been a carer for both of my children. I have been a carer for my grandchildren. In fact they play hell with me when I am on my own with them. They stay up late and convince me that I do not have put them to bed early. They do all sorts of things. My two children ring me constantly when they have problems. They do not seem to feel that they have to talk only to their mother when there is a crisis. They talk to me. I collected my children from school and dropped them to school.…

In October 2014, when I came in here for the by-election count, which saw me into this House, it was initially very difficult to get to the Ceann Comhairle’s dining room. When I eventually arrived down there, the one person who stood beside me as the count took place was you, Senator Norris. I will never forget your generosity on that day. My sister sent me a text this morning in which she asked me tell David Norris that she has admired him all her life. That is what people out there think. When you think of Seanad…

I doubt it very much.

Following on from my colleague, Senator Mullen, I have to talk about the democratic process. For something as serious as a constitutional amendment, to come to the House and give a couple of hours of debate to two major changes to the Constitution is repugnant to the very House itself and everything we stand for. One of the Minister's colleagues, during an interview on a radio station with me this morning, said that if the House brings forward an amendment the Minister thinks has merit, he will accept it. If he did…

You mentioned everybody. You did not mention me or-----

That is fine.

I have heard a lot this afternoon about mothers and I support the notion of removing some of the archaic language that is in our Constitution. Shortly before my mother died, I visited her in Galway. The visit ended and while on my way home to Dublin, I thought about her and the impact she had on my life. I realised, by the time I got to Athlone, that I had never told her, so I turned around my vehicle and drove back to Galway. When I walked into her room she asked me what I was doing there. I said to her that on ev…

I join with everybody else in wishing Tom Hickey well in his retirement. I also wish Martin Groves, Bridget Doody and the staff of the Seanad a happy and peaceful Christmas. They need a peaceful Christmas after what we saw here last night. I wish the Cathaoirleach well and thank him for his tolerance. That will get me an extra few seconds. This week, the Irish Examiner reported that a Russian submarine was off the coast of Cork. How do we know? How do we know what is off the Cork or, for that matter, what is up in …