It is not seeking to interfere. It is a general Bill.

We are bound by the complete and utter independence of the Judiciary and the courts system. We will not interfere in any way.

It is not specific to a case.

One cannot give directions to the court.

It concerns the people's decision being decided upon quickly one way or the other.

We might all have wished for the result to be left as it was when the referendum was passed by the people, but people have a right to take court cases. It is not for us, the Deputy or the House to direct the courts on what to do. The Deputy should not go there because there is a complete separation of powers. The Government is anxious to move ahead with its legislation as quickly as possible and have it enacted and applicable by the year's end for those who wish to give three months' notice and get married. I cannot predict the outcome of the court decision, nor will I speculate on it.

The Bill is ready to go from our point of view but my advice is that it would be very wrong for the Oireachtas to proceed with it in advance of the court making its decision. I am sorry I cannot be more specific.

I thank the Taoiseach for his answer but wish to reiterate the point that Teachta Mac Lochlainn was making. I said in my remarks that we respect absolutely and uphold the right of citizens to go to the courts. We are not seeking to interfere with the court system or interfere in any way with the separation of powers between the Judiciary and the Oireachtas but there seems to be an unfortunate and overly long period for dealing with this issue, although it might not be intentional. We simply want to bring forward for consideration a proposition that establishes timeframes for the process but does not interfere with it.

Obviously, if one tries to give a direction to a court stating such a decision must be decided by such a date, how does one know the arguments that are going to arise? How does one know the other objections or elements that might be raised? One just cannot do it. I refer to the utter separation of the Judiciary from the Oireachtas. Deputy Mac Lochlainn's Bill might be well intentioned but he cannot give directions to a court through the parliamentary system.

I thank the Taoiseach. I regret I cannot call the other Deputies who are offering to contribute. I hope they will be able to try again tomorrow. That concludes the Order of Business.