Recommendations for anti-God and anti-Christian changes to the Constitution had been made by the All-Party Oireachtas Committee that had been given the task of reviewing the Constitution, Mr Don Lydon (FF) claimed.
Supporting calls for a debate on the committee's deliberations, he said it was important that such a discussion take place at a time when the 2,000 th anniversary of Christ's birth was being marked. Many of the recommendations of that group were not merely anti-Christian, they were anti-God and it was time a bit of manners was put on some of these people.
Mr Fergus O'Dowd (FG) intervened to say: "I am a member of that committee and that is utter rubbish." Mr Lydon should attend the launch of the study of the Irish text of the Constitution, so that he could see the progressive and reforming work which the committee was doing.