The first thing I wish to mention this morning is that in the course of yesterday afternoon and evening, the Seanad reform implementation group completed its work. I hope to be in a position to circulate to the Taoiseach and Members of the Oireachtas the final text of our work within the next seven days. I take the opportunity to thank the Members of this House for their co-operation and enthusiastic support for the work of the group and to indicate to them that their constructive approach to everything has resulted in a text of which we can all be proud.

Then the Seanad can forget about it.

We have not seen it yet.

I want the Chamber to be constructive this morning.

As this House is aware, there are two Houses in the Oireachtas. As it is likely that the Bill will be introduced in Dáil Éireann, we will have the views of the people's direct representatives on the matter before we get to see it in this House. In the end, the people of Ireland voted to retain Seanad Éireann. The members of the implementation group took that mandate to implement and come up with ways in which the Manning report would be implemented seriously. They addressed their task with great diligence.

We hear the Government programme is about to be extended by agreement between party leaders. If that is going to happen, it will entail the implementation of the Manning report. The legislation will be available for the Dáil and Seanad to consider in the fullness of time. I hope these moves lead to its adoption and passage quickly. I emphasise. of course, that it is acknowledged that a radical reform of the kind proposed will take time to implement. In particular, I thank the Members of this House, including my colleague, Senator Ned O'Sullivan, for his constructive input into the phasing in of the new arrangements.

We have to be careful in this House that we do not forget what is happening with regard to Downing Street. Brexit is a tragedy for this country. Ireland will lose its greatest ally in Europe if Brexit proceeds.

It may not.

It may not proceed, but that is what we are witnessing. While sympathy may go to a person who is battling for a particular position, nonetheless it should be remembered that Mrs. May has set her face against allowing the British people to have a final say in whether they do or do not want to leave the European Union on the terms she has negotiated.

From my point of view some basic facts are relevant. She articulated the proposition that no deal was better than a bad deal. While a nominal remainer, she failed to convince the British public to reject the Brexit referendum. It was she who told the British public, when she became Prime Minister after David Cameron, that there would be no snap election. It was she who broke that promise, held a snap election, delivered herself into the hands of the Democratic Unionist Party and gave it a large say over what happens at Westminster on this issue. It is she who has brought us to this position. All I am saying is that whereas most of us would have sympathy for a person embattled in the circumstances in which she is and in some sense would wish her well, the simple fact is that the underlying project she has embarked on is highly damaging to Britain, Ireland and the European Union. We should never forget that.