I was glad to hear that this morning the Minister for Health brought to Cabinet the draft legislation to allow for a referendum to repeal the eighth amendment. This is a very welcome step, and we in Sinn Féin for our part hope this Bill will come before the Dáil at the earliest possible opportunity. In a tweet this morning, the Minister, Deputy Harris, said the referendum Bill will be finalised in the coming days and that he will publish the Bill on 6 March. If matters will be concluded in the coming days, why the delay until 6 March? Furthermore, will the Taoiseach clarify whether the referendum date will in fact be 28 May? The Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, intimated that it might drag into June. I wish to establish that it will in fact be a May referendum. I know many people who are following this debate closely are concerned about the date of the referendum, not least young voters and students-----

May we get an answer then?

-----for whom a June voting date is highly problematic.

The Minister for Health sought and received approval today to draft the referendum Bill to delete Article 40.3.3° from the Constitution and insert a new article enabling the Oireachtas to regulate abortion services in Ireland. The wording is the wording we gave at the press conference some weeks ago. The intention is to publish the Bill in the first week of March but we need to get some further legal advice on the precise wording. We are confident it is fine, but we need to get some further advice on it and the place in the Constitution where it should rest. We anticipate having the legislation ready in the first week of March. It is the Government's intention to hold the referendum before the end of May, notwithstanding some reports I have read to the contrary. We are on schedule in respect of the timeline we have set out. However, I cannot make any promise to the Deputy in this regard because I do not control this House or the other House and it will be in the hands of the Houses-----

We are out of time. I call Deputy Howlin.

-----to ensure that the referendum Bill passes this House and the other House quickly and is not held up. I cannot make any promise in this regard.