Speech archive for NOVEMBER 2005
Each speech listed here is an edited speech. If you'd like to see the speech or debate in full, please go to the Oireachtas website and click on "Seanad Eireann" and then "Seanad Debates" and click on the relevant date as listed with each speech on this page.
Irish Ferries (30/11/05)
Decline of Sugar Beet Industry(30/11/05)
Ferns Report (30/11/05)
Mayo Farmer Prison Sentence (25/11/05)
Blind Car Owners (24/11/05)
Housing Policy (23/11/05)
War in Iraq (23/11/05)
Alternative Agriculture (23/11/05)
The Work of An Garda Síochána (23/11/05)
School "League Table" (22/11/05)
Alternative Energy Sources (22/11/05)
Wind Energy (17/11/05)
Kyoto Protocol - Cavity Block Housing (17/11/05)
Juvenile Offenders (16/11/05)
The Work of An Garda Síochána (16/11/05)
Ferns Report (15/11/05)
Irish Ferries (15/11/05)
Cavity Block Housing (10/11/05)
Social Welfare Benefits (09/11/05)
Great Blasket Island (09/11/05)
Re-Election of George Bush (03/11/04)
Irish Ferries
30/11/05 - ........Connected to this issue and the displacement of people in their jobs through no fault of their own is the Irish Ferries dispute. It was discussed at some length yesterday in the Dáil. This is something which people on all sides would want to be on record. I would like an opportunity to explore what are the possibilities and where this can go. This is about trust and confidence as well as people’s jobs. This reflects badly on everybody and will undermine the relationship between all parties on the labour spectrum, business and workers, Government and the social partners. It has the capacity to undermine much of what we worked for during the past 20 years and from that point of view, we must debate this issue.
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Decline of Sugar Beet Industry
30/11/05 - I support the idea of a debate on the beet industry. From 1990 to 2000, I listened to people unfairly trying to convince Irish farmers that in some way we could avoid the world beet price. We all knew it was staring us in the face.
Every year the rainforests of the Amazon are cleared to the extent of the acreage of Ireland. Two factories producing sugar in the Amazon will wipe out not just the Irish but the European sugar beet industry. That is a fact. Whatever way we are to deal with this issue, it is not a problem to be laid at the door of the Government, the Minister or anybody else. If we want to go back in time, we should never have done a deal on beet in 1973. That was done to protect northern French and Belgian farmers and we got in on the tail end of it.
People are affected and are being displaced. The matter needs to be debated. We should be looking at the alternatives. We should examine how we can look after the farmers involved in production and the workers in the factories. That should be the tone of the debate. Last week I outlined here the need to help farmers get into biofuels and other alternatives. There is a need for them to produce crops that can be used for energy generation, to use the land properly and to get a fair income from it. I will support that approach and stand with them on every one of those issues.
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Ferns Report
30/11/05 - Last week, I raised the fact we did not get a response from the Vatican to the Ferns Report. Following that, I wrote to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and requested him to formally post a copy of the Ferns Report to the Papal Nuncio in Ireland and the Pope in Rome to seek their response. Not only did we not get a response from them on the most serious issue ever of its type, the most appalling development occurred during the past week whereby the church is trying to throw the blame on the fact that some priests may be homosexual. A fortnight ago I stated that until the church begins to recognise, understand and accept homosexual and married priests, it will never solve its problems. We must make our position clear. We must revisit the church’s response to the Ferns Report as soon as possible.
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Mayo Farmer Prison Sentence
25/11/05 - We are all aware of the extraordinary case in Mayo where a would−be burglar was shot dead, the farmer who owned the property who killed him now finds himself in jail and two families are suffering. There are possibilities of the matter continuing further as threats have been made. A call has been made for demonstrations, etc. It is time we reminded ourselves how our democracy works. Under the Constitution people have an entitlement − even to the extent of taking life − to guard themselves against attack from wherever it might come. That is duly respected. In the event of that being challenged, there is a process whereby people go to court, the law is explained and 12 citizens make a decision as to what the outcome should be. I share the concern for all parties in this issue but I am more concerned that democracy would be threatened by large organisations, which have given a lot in their own way, that would get involved in something to undermine the application of justice under the Constitution. We must recognise where we are. It is a terrible outcome all round but let us not make it worse.
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Blind Car Owners
24/11/05 - Yesterday, I wrote to the Minister for Finance on another issue regarding blind people, namely, the fact that such people, obviously by the nature of their disability, are not able to drive does not mean that they cannot own or need cars. There is a need for recognition in the budget and tax laws for blind persons’ carers, who may be their drivers. Such carers need to be recognised in a tax efficient manner in order to give a break to blind persons who need cars and who must buy them. They should receive support in this manner. It is not difficult to do and it is easy to police.
Not that many people are involved but the issue is as important as a blind person being able to take his or her guide dog onto a premises. I would ask, in other words, that the a blind person who owns a car, which is driven by a carer, would be able to claim back tax in the normal way for people with a disability. Blind people are not included in the relevant driving scheme for people with disabilities because, obviously, years ago somebody thought blind people would never drive. Of course they cannot drive but they have drivers, own cars and require our support in that area.
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Housing Policy
23/11/05- Much has been said in the debate on affordable and social housing. I am disappointed over the slow progress regarding affordable housing. I noticed this week that the State has found an extra 235 acres to be made available for affordable housing. I fully support the initiative, established at the national partnership talks some years ago, to make land available to the State on which houses can be made available more or less at cost price. As the Minister probably knows, I was the one who proposed this at the talks. It would be very useful if the relevant committee could be urged to determine the obstacles that need to be cleared and where we can assist in the process.
I am not standing here to be critical and know there are difficulties involved. I know the process has been entered into in a spirit of partnership but I am very conscious, two and a half years later that we need to be able to show progress at the new session of national partnership talks, which will commence if we are lucky.
The issue of most concern to me regarding housing is that of the impact of, and sequel and prequel to, the directive on insulation which comes into operation in January. In 1998, we became aware that the insulation requirements in Europe would move in a certain direction. We knew what would be required of us and people took the relevant steps in certain areas. However, steps were not taken in every area. From 1998 until the European directive finally emerged in 2002 or 2003 we continued to build houses in the old way. In that period almost half a million homes were built in the Dublin area and probably 90% of them were built with hollow blocks. I would be glad to be found wrong about this but it is still happening.
It only happens in the Dublin area. What is wrong with cavity block? There are two or three things wrong. The first and most engaging fault is that it is close to impossible, if not impossible, to retrofit insulation as cheaply as in cavity walls. With cavity walls, one simply fills the cavity with insulation. That cannot be done with cavity block because the blocks are not in line. They cannot be in line or the structure would fall down. The only way to bring cavity block to the required level of insulation is by taking everything off the wall, scraping it back and installing an insulation bond.
The Minister and Members are aware that only a few weeks ago the OECD issued a report which stated that Irish housing is 15% over-priced. I do not know if that is right or wrong but at some stage it will be over-priced. Even if it is not over-priced what I say next is of great importance. From next year every house in Europe, which includes Ireland, that is offered for sale will have to carry a certificate of insulation. The 80% or 90% of houses built for speculative purposes in the Dublin area for the last ten years will now, therefore, carry a low level of insulation certification. That means when somebody decides to buy a house and two houses on a road are for sale, one with a certificate of insulation at an appropriate level and the other with a lower level of insulation, it is clear which one will be bought.
The people who were unfortunate enough to buy the cavity block houses over the last ten years will take the hit if there is a 15% drop in the market. There is no doubt about that. We talk about the property ladder but this could be like snakes and ladders. Just when somebody thinks they are up on the ladder, they could go sliding to the bottom again when they try to put their house on the market.
As bad as that is however, it now appears, and I hope I am wrong, that not only is this directive coming into operation next January but Ireland, in its wisdom, has decided to give an exemption period of the following two years to the Irish construction industry. It will be able to continue doing this for another two years. That is appalling and there is no reason for it.
The Minister thinks logically about these matters and I do not believe his views would differ greatly from my own. This is something we have been aware of since 1998. This building method will have an impact on the people who buy houses and on energy and insulation. What are the reasons for giving a further exemption period when we are already years behind our European colleagues in this regard? The issue of insulation has different importance in different countries but I am anxious to hear a response to the points I have made.
The Minister shook his head when I referred to cavity block and the amount of cavity block building taking place only in the Dublin area. It is happening because HomeBond is prepared to accept it in the Dublin area but not anywhere else. Can somebody explain that? Somebody who is building a house outside the Dublin area will not get the HomeBond certificate if the house is built with cavity block. There is no sense in that.
Does self-regulation work? It does if there is an oversight body. The oversight body must be either in the Minister’s Department or it must be established by the Minister. I am very worried about this because we are creating a serious problem. If some of what I have said is wrong, because I am not an expert in this area, it is only partially wrong. I believe my comments are correct. I believe I have outlined the sequence correctly and I am forecasting a difficulty for the future. Nobody appears to be making any reference to it. I have been trying to come to grips with it because I do not understand it. I do not want a justification for where we are but to know why there is a different standard in Dublin, what difficulties there will be in the future and how the certificate of insulation will work.
I wish to make a suggestion that is a little radical but doable. It is something that has taken place in other countries. I said in the House last year that if any community were to state that it was prepared to look after all its energy needs, through a wind farm or whatever, and its waste, without linking to a national sewerage system, it should get a tax break for doing that. I did not say anything further but I have examined this matter in the meantime, particularly on a small scale. I am also considering the issue of agriculture at present. I cannot see why agricultural communities would not be in a position to involve themselves in such ventures. They would have replacement crops and work within agriculture. They would save energy, bring us into line with our requirements under the Kyoto Protocol and do us all a big favour also. They could build a five, ten or 100 KW wind generator, one small enough to be hooked up to the grid without the need for a substation. I do not know the exact size required - it could even be a 50 KW generator - but the electricity generated could be shared among themselves and they could save on their bills.
Why can every new house being built not have a wind generator on the chimney and a solar panel on the roof? The solar panel would heat the water to about 30 or 40 degrees. How much energy would that save? In terms of the hollow block and all that goes into it - and I would like to get into the debate on the benefits of concrete and wood build - and having regard to our requirements under Kyoto, which are being decided on by the building industry, it is frightening.
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War in Iraq
23/11/05 - The Government and the Minister of State’s party has always taken a brave line on issues such as Palestine and other unpopular issues. This is a time when we should stand out and there was an opportunity to take a stronger position on this issue.Members have missed a great opportunity to put our position more firmly on the record. We can do that without losing friends. Criticism of George Bush’s appalling policies is not criticism of the American people, as Senator Norris said in the first debate on this issue over 18 months ago. It suits the people around George Bush to portray criticism of him as anti-Americanism, which it is not and will never be. This is the biggest difficulty in this debate.
This war started because of the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Only one person still claims there are hidden weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We went to war without justification. After the war had proceeded for some time Fianna Fáil Senators, including Senators Ó Murchú and Hanafin, said they had been misled. The British Parliament and the American people were misled. The facts are there.
The American Government closed down the al-Jazeera head office beside the United Nations building in New York. This was an attempt to muzzle a media entity that was doing no harm but trying to bring the truth further. We read in The Guardian yesterday that George Bush proposed and considered bombing al-Jazeera’s headquarters. Is there any reason the Irish Government could not say “If that is true, it is wrong and we want to distance ourselves from it”? We must have ethical standards in our global contacts. I ask the Minister of State to discuss that suggestion in his Department. I do not suggest anything that would bring the Irish Government into deep international problems but somebody has to shout “Stop”. We lost the opportunity with the debate on weapons of mass destruction. We were misled but the debate has moved on. This is today’s issue and we should recognise it.
Another issue is the question of white phosphorous. Imagine if we discovered that Saddam Hussein, al-Qaeda or another repressive regime used it. There would be outrage and we would condemn it. There is something completely wrong about it. Nobody can justify it. Why can this Government not say conditionally that if America used white phosphorous, it is wrong and contravenes a million international conventions? We should set the standards, even in conditional terms. Let others argue whether it took place or not. We will have established our position without passing judgment. This way we would establish what is wrong before we know who did it, rather than vice versa. Surely our diplomats can take us down that road.
The Minister has travelled all over the world. The biggest issue, and the reason we are missing an opportunity here, is that we are polarising the globe. Islamic society is developing a deep hatred for Western beliefs, idioms, morality and culture and in the West we are developing a deep hatred for Islam. This is utterly wrong on both sides but it is being inexorably inculcated into our psyche.
The fact that people are locked up in Guantanamo Bay is a blot on our understanding of Western culture. They have been disgracefully treated. Their holy books, icons and beliefs have been disgracefully treated. People who have condemned Guantanamo Bay have suffered attempts to blacken their names and break up their private lives. It usurps the most basic right of habeas corpus on which all Western legal systems are built. I can use only broad brushstrokes but I hope the Minister will take something from this and begin a debate in his Department.
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Alternative Agriculture
23/11/05 - A number of times recently I raised the importance of having a debate on alternative energy and yesterday Senator Coonan called for a debate on agriculture. The two matters could be debated together. We had better recognise that the outcome of the beet negotiations will only be a temporary bridge towards the end of the beet industry. Therefore, we should be looking at the alternatives for farmers and agriculture beyond that point. In particular, this ties in with the need to encourage through tax and other incentives farming communities, and farmers in the first place, to grow alternative crops like oilseed rape, to produce wood pellets for biomass energy and such like, and also to give encouragement to small rural communities to development wind energy farms that can create wealth. There is a significant amount that can be done in that area and we need to look creatively at it, giving the agricultural community hope for the future.
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The Work of An Garda Síochána
23/11/05 - The House should note the fact that over the past week the gardaí in Limerick, in particular, have been extraordinarily successful in making at least two, and possibly three, giant steps towards solving some of the difficulties there. It has been done by good policing and hard work. It proves the point that if enough gardaí are made available and put on the streets, an impact can be made on crime in the area.
It is a major step forward that gardaí have reached a stage where the convicted killer of Mr. Brian Fitzgerald is prepared to turn State’s evidence and they are working with Interpol and other agencies seeking the extradition of Mr. James Martin Cahill as well as tightening up on some of the others. It shows what can be done. It is the case for greater policing on the ground. This has been done in Limerick through a considerable influx of gardaí, the regular use of the Garda helicopter and other moves. It shows it is the way we need to move forward.
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School "League Table"
22/11/05 - You may have noticed, a Chathaoirligh, an article in today’s Irish Independent on school league tables which, more than anything else, shows how unreliable they are but that is not the point I wish to have discussed. I ask the Leader to provide an opportunity to discuss the fact that this country is developing into one where not just the quality of a school but the quality of education is determined by the letters after a person’s name, which is appalling. I grew up around very educated people but 95% of them never went to third level. It is an appalling idea that our education system will be judged now on the number of students schools send to third level and, even worse, that people will be judged by the number of degrees they attain without any reference to the qualities we are trying to inculcate in a new generation of Irish people, qualities such as justice, mercy, tolerance, articulation, leadership, creativity and art history. They cannot be measured but they are by far the most important requirement. In a previous life I am sure the Leader would have agreed with me on that.
This country produced the Chieftains, Brendan Behan, senior civil servants, politicians and leaders of political parties who never had a third level qualification. I believe I am entitled to say that representing third level graduates in this august assembly. I would never have thought a third level qualification was an essential requirement to an educated person and it is appalling that we are going down that road. It is no wonder we are producing people who do not have time for or toleration or understanding of each other and all the difficulties our society is facing. I am sure the Minister for Education and Science will be happy to discuss this issue.
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Alternative Energy Sources
22/11/05 - A month ago, I raised the need for a debate in this House on supports for alternative energy. I also pointed to the significant number of newspaper articles on the necessity of looking to nuclear energy as a means of dealing with our energy requirements. The British Prime Minister put forward the same proposal yesterday.
There is no doubt that there is major interest in this area. The debate I have called for should encompass an examination of wind energy for domestic uses, solar energy for heating and domestic uses, and proper incentives and supports for biofuels and alternative energy sources, be they wood pellets or whatever. The time for this debate is before the budget. There are actions we can take to deal with the problems relating to the Kyoto Protocol. Nuclear energy is not necessary at this time. I welcome a debate to focus people’s mind on this issue.
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Wind Energy
17/11/05 - The Government and the ESB have taken the retrograde step of informing the wind farmers’ association that its members cannot apply for connection to the national grid for the next two years. Wind farms are being built around the country, the Government is attempting to persuade people to save energy and we are not harnessing natural energy. Why did the Government and the ESB decide to take this step? Vested interests in the concrete industry and the energy sector are at work here. How can we address this issue? The single housing issue could be resolved. If every new house was required to have a 1 kw wind energy generator and solar panels for water heating, in addition to proper insulation, we would save approximately 30% of our requirements under the Kyoto Protocol. I would welcome a debate on this issue.
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Kyoto Protocol - Cavity Block Housing
17/11/05 - I ask the Acting Leader to respond to me on the question of Ireland’s progress towards implementing the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. I recently raised the fact that the EU insulation directive, which requires every new house and every house offered for sale to have a certificate of insulation, comes into operation on 4 January 2006. I understand the Government has given an period of grace to construction initiatives for the following two years, which is appalling. This development puts Ireland outside the demands of the EU and worsens its position regarding the Kyoto Protocol. A more adverse development is the fact that houses are being built, particularly in Dublin, with 9 inch hollow concrete blocks. It is not possible to use this block to raise a house to the insulation standard found in other houses. We must discover why the practice of using this block has not ceased. The involvement of the HomeBond scheme in this issue raises questions of self-regulation.
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Juvenile Offenders
16/11/05 -The Children Act is a good piece of legislation. I recall when that legislation was going through the House, both Senator Ryan and I tabled amendments to provide for a commencement date on the total Act. It was not brought forward, however. The former Minister of State, who is now the Minister for Education and Science, assured us there would be no difficulty in putting the whole Act in place, yet we are still waiting. It is a lesson to be learned, but I will leave it at that.
The debate about parents and parenting is important and we should start at the beginning. Those who drafted our Constitution came to the conclusion that parents had extraordinary skills in parenting, education and a variety of other matters. I do not know what the thinking was behind that. It might have been a nice idea, but there was no sense to it. Senator Glynn is correct in saying that children can control their parents, but that may be because some parents have never learned the skill of controlling difficult adolescents. I am a teacher and it took me a lot of training and experience to learn how to control children with difficulties, so parents should not be expected to cope without knowing how to do so. Parenting courses should be provided for them.
I always apply the nursery test in this regard. I could visit a nursery in the nearest maternity hospital and without looking at the children, but only seeing their addresses, I would be able to give the Minister of State a profile of where they are likely to finish up during their lives. We all know that 90% of the prison population comes from clearly defined urban areas, so why do we not do something about it at an early stage?
I would like to talk more about child care, education and life skills, but my time is limited. I would like every child to be able to cook and learn interpersonal skills, but that cannot be done solely in school,which accounts for only six or seven hours per day. The remainder of the time will shape their life experiences. I would stake my reputation on guaranteeing that if every child in disadvantaged areas could be opened up to a whole new set of experiences, it would improve the situation. These experiences, include things they will not come across at school. Some children are not skilled in contact sports, but other pursuits like orienteering, archery, sailing, canoeing and cooking would awaken a passion in such children. That training would allow them to succeed in a given area of expertise.
Children from disadvantaged areas are brought closer to prison if they do not experience success in their lives. This is not a soft, liberal view; it represents hard thinking. As the Minister of State knows, in my professional capacity I have visited every detention area for young offenders in this State. I have dealt with the management of such centres and I know how they operate. They are doing fantastic work, but youngsters must still adjust to the outside world after being released.
Let us commence all of the Act, as well as teaching parenting skills to parents. We should also apply the nursery test and examine where children come from. We must then help them to do things they never did before, including travel and sporting activities. By doing so, we could change things for the better.
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The Work of Garda Síochána
15/11/05 - Some years ago I spoke at length about the murder of Mr. Brian Fitzgerald in Limerick. I said then that it was a turning point, so it is important to put on the record the extraordinarily good work the Garda Síochána is doing there. The force has cracked that particular murder case, with the confession yesterday and the arrest in Amsterdam. It would be useful to have the same tactics applied in the Dublin area. That is what Senator Brian Hayes is seeking.
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Ferns Report
15/11/05 - The Ferns Report is something on which we can build. I am not a student of the Bible, but I am aware of St. Paul’s letter to Timothy in which he said many negative things which we rightly do not accept in this day and age. He also said something with which I agree − that priests should be married because if they cannot look after a family and a home, they cannot be trusted with a church. We should return to that position.
I do not ask the church to listen to me. It will not listen to me because it has never done so. I am offering my view of what should happen. Decent, good and honourable priests should be allowed to take wives if that is what they wish to do. The clergy should grow up and recognise that there is nothing wrong with being a homosexual and being a practising homosexual priest. If married priests were recognised and gay priests were accepted, we would have identified and focussed the extent of the problem in this regard.
I would like to mention the attempts which have been made by Bishop Willie Walsh over the last three weeks to try to put across the other side of the argument on the issue of celibacy. Senator Lydon made the important point that it would be useful to define the term “celibacy”. To be celibate is to be unmarried. There is no problem if celibacy is a choice for people, but problems can be created if celibacy is a requirement and a compulsion. That is the platform on which we encounter difficulties.
I am interested in the response of the upper echelons of the Roman Catholic Church to the most damning report that has been produced, in terms of detail, about any diocese in the world. Questions have been asked and eyebrows have been raised about a number of dioceses in the United States. Given that the Ferns Report is the worst report on a Catholic diocese about the issue of child sexual abuse that we have ever seen, it is unacceptable that there has been absolute silence from Rome. As the leader of the Irish diplomatic corps in the Vatican, the Irish Papal Nuncio should recognise that he has a role to play in this regard. We need to hear from him on this matter.
Over the last 20 years, I have demanded on many occasions that disclosure and mandatory reporting be deemed to be essential aspects of the roles of people who deal with children, but I have never received the support of Governments of all shades on this issue. We need to reconsider this aspect of the matter, just as we need to insist that the Stay Safe programme be taught in every school in Ireland. I have said previously in this House that the two women who developed the Stay Safe programme were initially unable to get support from anyone. The INTO finally made the necessary funds available to the women to conduct their research over the course of a year, before they received some support from the then Minister, Senator O’Rourke. I was unable to convince the leadership in the Department of Education to give the programme its imprimatur so that it could be introduced in schools.
I am also concerned about what happened to the files in that case. The matter was very well investigated by the local Garda sergeant, who was obviously appalled by what he discovered. He put together some documents on the matter and presented his report to senior officials. The senior official in the area, the local chief superintendent, insisted on receiving the files. However, they were not available to the team which produced the Ferns Report because they have not been found since. I do not know why this is the case.
The chief superintendent, who has since died, was a major figure in the Knights of St. Columbanus. What role did they play in this affair? After his retirement, the chief superintendent was awarded the papal Bene Merente medal by Pope John Paul II. Every person in Ireland who has received this medal should ask questions about how it came to be awarded to this individual.
A range of organisations have introduced a malaise into the Catholic Church in various places around Europe and we need to examine how it happened here. The Knights of St. Columbanus have never been very helpful to me over the last 20 years so they cannot affect me any more adversely than they will probably do now. They are connected to the Ferns affair and should tell us their view on the matter.
We need programmes for parents in addition to the Stay Safe programme if we are to protect children from abuse. We also need an agreed method of investigating allegations of child sexual abuse. When I regularly dealt with such cases approximately ten years ago, I contacted all the health boards but could not find two boards which had the same approach to dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse. A significant number of health boards did not have any system for dealing with such allegations. Consequently, issues were either not dealt with or incorrectly handled and I discovered at least three cases where people were wrongly accused of abuse because of a lack of expertise in dealing with the issue.
We should deal with paedophilia. Anyone working with children, including teachers and priests, should be vetted. Vetting procedures are used in Northern Ireland and in other occupations. A person who is offered a job in the Houses of the Oireachtas is vetted for security purposes. It is as important to vet a person working with children. The church should get its act together and we should recognise that the victims of abuse, regardless of their background, need our support.
We must insist that the Health Service Executive introduces a protocol for dealing with child abuse of which we are all aware. I would like to hear the Minister of State’s opinion on this matter. There must be mandatory reporting of any allegation of child abuse and such an allegation must be dealt with clearly and properly. The Stay Safe programme must be introduced in every school in the country and there must be a nationwide system for vetting people who work with children. The Government should contact the Papal Nuncio and demand that the Vatican issue a view on the Ferns Report. If certain organisations, such as the Knights of St. Columbanus, have played a role in this affair, we need to hear from them.
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Irish Ferries
15/11/05 - What we are now witnessing and envisaging from Irish Ferries is worrying, not only in terms of what it has done but also its attitude. We saw what it did to the hairdresser two years ago and we now see what it has attempted to do to staff in recent months − to get rid of all of them. Its view is inspired by greed to hold everything to itself and to refuse to share whatever profits are being created. It is now putting at risk a significant structure of partnership and trust. This is something we should debate so that people will see the road we are going down.
When push comes to shove and the union takes the final decision that will be required of it to call industrial action, people will stand up in the House and ask why we are at that point. We are at it because Irish Ferries is refusing to accept the outcome of the Labour Court process, which has been established by the State in order to bring to a conclusion intractable industrial relations disputes. Irish Ferries should be urged to listen to the court and accept its recommendations.
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Cavity Block Housing
10/11/05 -I want to raise also an issue that has given me cause for concern. In the past week the OECD report was published, and we made reference to it here in the House, which states that Irish housing stock is probably 15% over-valued. If we take that as a starting point and recognise that a European directive comes into play in January which will cover issues such as insulation requirement in houses and the fact that in the greater Dublin area we have built approximately 225,000 cavity block houses in the past eight or nine years, none of which will complies with the directive that will be issued from Europe in January. Apparently, builders are looking forward to a period of grace in which they will not have to comply with that directive until, say, the end of 2007 if they have already applied for planning permission. This measure will consign thousands of young couples to buying houses which will not be unsaleable but will be the last to be sold. To put it simply, it means that from January of next year every house that comes on the market will have to get a rating for insulation, and I assure the House that is the way the market will work. I would like to have a debate with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government as to how we can approach that issue.
I would also like to know the reason Dublin is the only area in the country where cavity block housing continues to be built. I thought it ended in the rest of the country 30 years ago. In simple terms, it is almost impossible to insulate a cavity block house except with a very expensive wall cladding, which destroys everything within the house. This is a serious issue which will affect the next generation. It is a problem we are facing now but which we have been aware of for the past eight years. I want to know the reason for that.
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Social Welfare Benefits
09/11/05 - I believe in the concept that a year’s work should have a year’s pension contribution or entitlement attached to it. Even if that requires legislation which people from my side of the labour spectrum or people on the other side do not like, it would be the most important decision on pensions in the history of the State. It is crucial. The Minister should push forward with his proposal. I hope there will be a move towards that objective in the next budget. IBEC is correct that it will impose costs on employers. The organisation will have to deal with that. Some of the unions will oppose it because they do not want their members paying into it. We should take them all on about this. As a union member and general secretary I have tried to push that concept, unsuccessfully, on many occasions. I still believe in it. It would be a revolutionary change.
The carers’ issue is hugely important. Everybody supports carers. I wish to link this to the broader societal shifts that have occurred. The major societal shift is in the structure of our communities. We now have nuclear families and units. When I was a child, if somebody on the street had a serious illness or a family had suddenly fallen into bad times or had some difficulty with a son or daughter in America or in the UK, everybody on the street knew about it and there was a support structure.
If someone was not working for a week due to an aspect of his or her job, some level of support came through at the local shop and various other places. In many areas, these societal and community structures are gone. In towns and cities, particularly Dublin, one could be living next door to a family trying to cope with an extraordinary problem, such as separation, a bereavement, a child with a difficulty or a problem in the extended family, without knowing and with no supports available as a result. This is an additional reason as to why the carers’ issue is important.
This motion has to do with the redistribution of society’s wealth. The Minister’s job in Cabinet is to fight for a fairer redistribution. If benchmarks are to be placed on our society and democracy, one must be how well the disadvantaged, not necessarily economic, and those with dependencies are cared for. This debate must be about how best can we direct and focus social welfare spending.
The contradictory issues in this debate, such as a lone parent losing certain allowances, gives out the wrong message when we want to have an energetic and buoyant economic community. We must support people who have what is termed a “get up and go” attitude. Similarly people with disabilities must not lose out because they take on extra responsibilities and improve themselves. I hope the Minister shares this view.
All dependants, whether they are unemployed, for whatever reason, aged, which we are all facing if we live long enough, people coping with disabilities or their extended family supporting someone coping with a disability, need to have their share. I support the point made by Senator Bradford on the social capital of volunteers. As a large number is involved in voluntary caring, it is important that they are in a structured process, entitling them to build up contribution records through stamps or other appropriate methods. I ask the Minister to bring forward such a system in the forthcoming budget.
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Great Blasket Island
09/11/05 - Some ten years ago, the then Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, came to this House and proposed a Bill to create a national monument of na Blascaoid - An Blascaod Mór, go díreach. Idir an dá linn, bhí deacrachtaí ann, but it did not become a national monument because there was a challenge in the courts. Yesterday, however, I was taken aback to discover that a question answered in the other House indicates that the Government has no plan to declare the Blasket Islands a monument. Notwithstanding that the relevant legislation has been struck down, this seems to reflect a major turnabout in Government policy.
In this regard, I would appreciate a discussion with the Office of Public Works about developments on the islands. According to information imparted yesterday in the Dáil, it seems the OPW plans to buy the land, thus bringing it into State ownership. What is the intention if it is not to become a national park? There are certain monuments there, including the home of Peig Sayers, which must be considered. Will the Leader clarify the situation regarding the new report on the management of the island? I understand it will be presented to the Government but has not been agreed to by all the stakeholders and landholders on the island. I call for a discussion with the OPW on the Government’s proposals for An Blascaod Mór as seo amach.
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Re-Election of George Bush
3/11/04 - The people of America have spoken and have apparently decided to re-elect President Bush for the next four years, which I personally regret. Nonetheless, that is the American people's decision…
The greatest feature of President Bush's leadership has been the West's deteriorating relationship with the Islamic world. Now that he does not have to face re-election in four years' time, we should ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs to use our influence in Europe to encourage him to restore relations and extend a hand of friendship and understanding to the Islamic world. We must recognise that people practising the Muslim faith are being treated like Irish people were in the UK when bombings were taking place there - they are all being tarred with the same brush. We need to see a more subtle and open approach to this matter.
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Seanad debates are available in full on the Oireachtas Website
Each speech listed here is an edited speech. If you'd like to see the speech or debate in full, please go to the Oireachtas website and click on "Seanad Eireann" and then "Seanad Debates" and click on the relevant date as listed with each speech on this page.
Irish Ferries (30/11/05)
Decline of Sugar Beet Industry(30/11/05)
Ferns Report (30/11/05)
Mayo Farmer Prison Sentence (25/11/05)
Blind Car Owners (24/11/05)
Housing Policy (23/11/05)
War in Iraq (23/11/05)
Alternative Agriculture (23/11/05)
The Work of An Garda Síochána (23/11/05)
School "League Table" (22/11/05)
Alternative Energy Sources (22/11/05)
Wind Energy (17/11/05)
Kyoto Protocol - Cavity Block Housing (17/11/05)
Juvenile Offenders (16/11/05)
The Work of An Garda Síochána (16/11/05)
Ferns Report (15/11/05)
Irish Ferries (15/11/05)
Cavity Block Housing (10/11/05)
Social Welfare Benefits (09/11/05)
Great Blasket Island (09/11/05)
Re-Election of George Bush (03/11/04)
Irish Ferries
30/11/05 - ........Connected to this issue and the displacement of people in their jobs through no fault of their own is the Irish Ferries dispute. It was discussed at some length yesterday in the Dáil. This is something which people on all sides would want to be on record. I would like an opportunity to explore what are the possibilities and where this can go. This is about trust and confidence as well as people’s jobs. This reflects badly on everybody and will undermine the relationship between all parties on the labour spectrum, business and workers, Government and the social partners. It has the capacity to undermine much of what we worked for during the past 20 years and from that point of view, we must debate this issue.
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Decline of Sugar Beet Industry
30/11/05 - I support the idea of a debate on the beet industry. From 1990 to 2000, I listened to people unfairly trying to convince Irish farmers that in some way we could avoid the world beet price. We all knew it was staring us in the face.
Every year the rainforests of the Amazon are cleared to the extent of the acreage of Ireland. Two factories producing sugar in the Amazon will wipe out not just the Irish but the European sugar beet industry. That is a fact. Whatever way we are to deal with this issue, it is not a problem to be laid at the door of the Government, the Minister or anybody else. If we want to go back in time, we should never have done a deal on beet in 1973. That was done to protect northern French and Belgian farmers and we got in on the tail end of it.
People are affected and are being displaced. The matter needs to be debated. We should be looking at the alternatives. We should examine how we can look after the farmers involved in production and the workers in the factories. That should be the tone of the debate. Last week I outlined here the need to help farmers get into biofuels and other alternatives. There is a need for them to produce crops that can be used for energy generation, to use the land properly and to get a fair income from it. I will support that approach and stand with them on every one of those issues.
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Ferns Report
30/11/05 - Last week, I raised the fact we did not get a response from the Vatican to the Ferns Report. Following that, I wrote to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and requested him to formally post a copy of the Ferns Report to the Papal Nuncio in Ireland and the Pope in Rome to seek their response. Not only did we not get a response from them on the most serious issue ever of its type, the most appalling development occurred during the past week whereby the church is trying to throw the blame on the fact that some priests may be homosexual. A fortnight ago I stated that until the church begins to recognise, understand and accept homosexual and married priests, it will never solve its problems. We must make our position clear. We must revisit the church’s response to the Ferns Report as soon as possible.
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Mayo Farmer Prison Sentence
25/11/05 - We are all aware of the extraordinary case in Mayo where a would−be burglar was shot dead, the farmer who owned the property who killed him now finds himself in jail and two families are suffering. There are possibilities of the matter continuing further as threats have been made. A call has been made for demonstrations, etc. It is time we reminded ourselves how our democracy works. Under the Constitution people have an entitlement − even to the extent of taking life − to guard themselves against attack from wherever it might come. That is duly respected. In the event of that being challenged, there is a process whereby people go to court, the law is explained and 12 citizens make a decision as to what the outcome should be. I share the concern for all parties in this issue but I am more concerned that democracy would be threatened by large organisations, which have given a lot in their own way, that would get involved in something to undermine the application of justice under the Constitution. We must recognise where we are. It is a terrible outcome all round but let us not make it worse.
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Blind Car Owners
24/11/05 - Yesterday, I wrote to the Minister for Finance on another issue regarding blind people, namely, the fact that such people, obviously by the nature of their disability, are not able to drive does not mean that they cannot own or need cars. There is a need for recognition in the budget and tax laws for blind persons’ carers, who may be their drivers. Such carers need to be recognised in a tax efficient manner in order to give a break to blind persons who need cars and who must buy them. They should receive support in this manner. It is not difficult to do and it is easy to police.
Not that many people are involved but the issue is as important as a blind person being able to take his or her guide dog onto a premises. I would ask, in other words, that the a blind person who owns a car, which is driven by a carer, would be able to claim back tax in the normal way for people with a disability. Blind people are not included in the relevant driving scheme for people with disabilities because, obviously, years ago somebody thought blind people would never drive. Of course they cannot drive but they have drivers, own cars and require our support in that area.
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Housing Policy
23/11/05- Much has been said in the debate on affordable and social housing. I am disappointed over the slow progress regarding affordable housing. I noticed this week that the State has found an extra 235 acres to be made available for affordable housing. I fully support the initiative, established at the national partnership talks some years ago, to make land available to the State on which houses can be made available more or less at cost price. As the Minister probably knows, I was the one who proposed this at the talks. It would be very useful if the relevant committee could be urged to determine the obstacles that need to be cleared and where we can assist in the process.
I am not standing here to be critical and know there are difficulties involved. I know the process has been entered into in a spirit of partnership but I am very conscious, two and a half years later that we need to be able to show progress at the new session of national partnership talks, which will commence if we are lucky.
The issue of most concern to me regarding housing is that of the impact of, and sequel and prequel to, the directive on insulation which comes into operation in January. In 1998, we became aware that the insulation requirements in Europe would move in a certain direction. We knew what would be required of us and people took the relevant steps in certain areas. However, steps were not taken in every area. From 1998 until the European directive finally emerged in 2002 or 2003 we continued to build houses in the old way. In that period almost half a million homes were built in the Dublin area and probably 90% of them were built with hollow blocks. I would be glad to be found wrong about this but it is still happening.
It only happens in the Dublin area. What is wrong with cavity block? There are two or three things wrong. The first and most engaging fault is that it is close to impossible, if not impossible, to retrofit insulation as cheaply as in cavity walls. With cavity walls, one simply fills the cavity with insulation. That cannot be done with cavity block because the blocks are not in line. They cannot be in line or the structure would fall down. The only way to bring cavity block to the required level of insulation is by taking everything off the wall, scraping it back and installing an insulation bond.
The Minister and Members are aware that only a few weeks ago the OECD issued a report which stated that Irish housing is 15% over-priced. I do not know if that is right or wrong but at some stage it will be over-priced. Even if it is not over-priced what I say next is of great importance. From next year every house in Europe, which includes Ireland, that is offered for sale will have to carry a certificate of insulation. The 80% or 90% of houses built for speculative purposes in the Dublin area for the last ten years will now, therefore, carry a low level of insulation certification. That means when somebody decides to buy a house and two houses on a road are for sale, one with a certificate of insulation at an appropriate level and the other with a lower level of insulation, it is clear which one will be bought.
The people who were unfortunate enough to buy the cavity block houses over the last ten years will take the hit if there is a 15% drop in the market. There is no doubt about that. We talk about the property ladder but this could be like snakes and ladders. Just when somebody thinks they are up on the ladder, they could go sliding to the bottom again when they try to put their house on the market.
As bad as that is however, it now appears, and I hope I am wrong, that not only is this directive coming into operation next January but Ireland, in its wisdom, has decided to give an exemption period of the following two years to the Irish construction industry. It will be able to continue doing this for another two years. That is appalling and there is no reason for it.
The Minister thinks logically about these matters and I do not believe his views would differ greatly from my own. This is something we have been aware of since 1998. This building method will have an impact on the people who buy houses and on energy and insulation. What are the reasons for giving a further exemption period when we are already years behind our European colleagues in this regard? The issue of insulation has different importance in different countries but I am anxious to hear a response to the points I have made.
The Minister shook his head when I referred to cavity block and the amount of cavity block building taking place only in the Dublin area. It is happening because HomeBond is prepared to accept it in the Dublin area but not anywhere else. Can somebody explain that? Somebody who is building a house outside the Dublin area will not get the HomeBond certificate if the house is built with cavity block. There is no sense in that.
Does self-regulation work? It does if there is an oversight body. The oversight body must be either in the Minister’s Department or it must be established by the Minister. I am very worried about this because we are creating a serious problem. If some of what I have said is wrong, because I am not an expert in this area, it is only partially wrong. I believe my comments are correct. I believe I have outlined the sequence correctly and I am forecasting a difficulty for the future. Nobody appears to be making any reference to it. I have been trying to come to grips with it because I do not understand it. I do not want a justification for where we are but to know why there is a different standard in Dublin, what difficulties there will be in the future and how the certificate of insulation will work.
I wish to make a suggestion that is a little radical but doable. It is something that has taken place in other countries. I said in the House last year that if any community were to state that it was prepared to look after all its energy needs, through a wind farm or whatever, and its waste, without linking to a national sewerage system, it should get a tax break for doing that. I did not say anything further but I have examined this matter in the meantime, particularly on a small scale. I am also considering the issue of agriculture at present. I cannot see why agricultural communities would not be in a position to involve themselves in such ventures. They would have replacement crops and work within agriculture. They would save energy, bring us into line with our requirements under the Kyoto Protocol and do us all a big favour also. They could build a five, ten or 100 KW wind generator, one small enough to be hooked up to the grid without the need for a substation. I do not know the exact size required - it could even be a 50 KW generator - but the electricity generated could be shared among themselves and they could save on their bills.
Why can every new house being built not have a wind generator on the chimney and a solar panel on the roof? The solar panel would heat the water to about 30 or 40 degrees. How much energy would that save? In terms of the hollow block and all that goes into it - and I would like to get into the debate on the benefits of concrete and wood build - and having regard to our requirements under Kyoto, which are being decided on by the building industry, it is frightening.
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War in Iraq
23/11/05 - The Government and the Minister of State’s party has always taken a brave line on issues such as Palestine and other unpopular issues. This is a time when we should stand out and there was an opportunity to take a stronger position on this issue.Members have missed a great opportunity to put our position more firmly on the record. We can do that without losing friends. Criticism of George Bush’s appalling policies is not criticism of the American people, as Senator Norris said in the first debate on this issue over 18 months ago. It suits the people around George Bush to portray criticism of him as anti-Americanism, which it is not and will never be. This is the biggest difficulty in this debate.
This war started because of the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Only one person still claims there are hidden weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We went to war without justification. After the war had proceeded for some time Fianna Fáil Senators, including Senators Ó Murchú and Hanafin, said they had been misled. The British Parliament and the American people were misled. The facts are there.
The American Government closed down the al-Jazeera head office beside the United Nations building in New York. This was an attempt to muzzle a media entity that was doing no harm but trying to bring the truth further. We read in The Guardian yesterday that George Bush proposed and considered bombing al-Jazeera’s headquarters. Is there any reason the Irish Government could not say “If that is true, it is wrong and we want to distance ourselves from it”? We must have ethical standards in our global contacts. I ask the Minister of State to discuss that suggestion in his Department. I do not suggest anything that would bring the Irish Government into deep international problems but somebody has to shout “Stop”. We lost the opportunity with the debate on weapons of mass destruction. We were misled but the debate has moved on. This is today’s issue and we should recognise it.
Another issue is the question of white phosphorous. Imagine if we discovered that Saddam Hussein, al-Qaeda or another repressive regime used it. There would be outrage and we would condemn it. There is something completely wrong about it. Nobody can justify it. Why can this Government not say conditionally that if America used white phosphorous, it is wrong and contravenes a million international conventions? We should set the standards, even in conditional terms. Let others argue whether it took place or not. We will have established our position without passing judgment. This way we would establish what is wrong before we know who did it, rather than vice versa. Surely our diplomats can take us down that road.
The Minister has travelled all over the world. The biggest issue, and the reason we are missing an opportunity here, is that we are polarising the globe. Islamic society is developing a deep hatred for Western beliefs, idioms, morality and culture and in the West we are developing a deep hatred for Islam. This is utterly wrong on both sides but it is being inexorably inculcated into our psyche.
The fact that people are locked up in Guantanamo Bay is a blot on our understanding of Western culture. They have been disgracefully treated. Their holy books, icons and beliefs have been disgracefully treated. People who have condemned Guantanamo Bay have suffered attempts to blacken their names and break up their private lives. It usurps the most basic right of habeas corpus on which all Western legal systems are built. I can use only broad brushstrokes but I hope the Minister will take something from this and begin a debate in his Department.
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Alternative Agriculture
23/11/05 - A number of times recently I raised the importance of having a debate on alternative energy and yesterday Senator Coonan called for a debate on agriculture. The two matters could be debated together. We had better recognise that the outcome of the beet negotiations will only be a temporary bridge towards the end of the beet industry. Therefore, we should be looking at the alternatives for farmers and agriculture beyond that point. In particular, this ties in with the need to encourage through tax and other incentives farming communities, and farmers in the first place, to grow alternative crops like oilseed rape, to produce wood pellets for biomass energy and such like, and also to give encouragement to small rural communities to development wind energy farms that can create wealth. There is a significant amount that can be done in that area and we need to look creatively at it, giving the agricultural community hope for the future.
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The Work of An Garda Síochána
23/11/05 - The House should note the fact that over the past week the gardaí in Limerick, in particular, have been extraordinarily successful in making at least two, and possibly three, giant steps towards solving some of the difficulties there. It has been done by good policing and hard work. It proves the point that if enough gardaí are made available and put on the streets, an impact can be made on crime in the area.
It is a major step forward that gardaí have reached a stage where the convicted killer of Mr. Brian Fitzgerald is prepared to turn State’s evidence and they are working with Interpol and other agencies seeking the extradition of Mr. James Martin Cahill as well as tightening up on some of the others. It shows what can be done. It is the case for greater policing on the ground. This has been done in Limerick through a considerable influx of gardaí, the regular use of the Garda helicopter and other moves. It shows it is the way we need to move forward.
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School "League Table"
22/11/05 - You may have noticed, a Chathaoirligh, an article in today’s Irish Independent on school league tables which, more than anything else, shows how unreliable they are but that is not the point I wish to have discussed. I ask the Leader to provide an opportunity to discuss the fact that this country is developing into one where not just the quality of a school but the quality of education is determined by the letters after a person’s name, which is appalling. I grew up around very educated people but 95% of them never went to third level. It is an appalling idea that our education system will be judged now on the number of students schools send to third level and, even worse, that people will be judged by the number of degrees they attain without any reference to the qualities we are trying to inculcate in a new generation of Irish people, qualities such as justice, mercy, tolerance, articulation, leadership, creativity and art history. They cannot be measured but they are by far the most important requirement. In a previous life I am sure the Leader would have agreed with me on that.
This country produced the Chieftains, Brendan Behan, senior civil servants, politicians and leaders of political parties who never had a third level qualification. I believe I am entitled to say that representing third level graduates in this august assembly. I would never have thought a third level qualification was an essential requirement to an educated person and it is appalling that we are going down that road. It is no wonder we are producing people who do not have time for or toleration or understanding of each other and all the difficulties our society is facing. I am sure the Minister for Education and Science will be happy to discuss this issue.
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Alternative Energy Sources
22/11/05 - A month ago, I raised the need for a debate in this House on supports for alternative energy. I also pointed to the significant number of newspaper articles on the necessity of looking to nuclear energy as a means of dealing with our energy requirements. The British Prime Minister put forward the same proposal yesterday.
There is no doubt that there is major interest in this area. The debate I have called for should encompass an examination of wind energy for domestic uses, solar energy for heating and domestic uses, and proper incentives and supports for biofuels and alternative energy sources, be they wood pellets or whatever. The time for this debate is before the budget. There are actions we can take to deal with the problems relating to the Kyoto Protocol. Nuclear energy is not necessary at this time. I welcome a debate to focus people’s mind on this issue.
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Wind Energy
17/11/05 - The Government and the ESB have taken the retrograde step of informing the wind farmers’ association that its members cannot apply for connection to the national grid for the next two years. Wind farms are being built around the country, the Government is attempting to persuade people to save energy and we are not harnessing natural energy. Why did the Government and the ESB decide to take this step? Vested interests in the concrete industry and the energy sector are at work here. How can we address this issue? The single housing issue could be resolved. If every new house was required to have a 1 kw wind energy generator and solar panels for water heating, in addition to proper insulation, we would save approximately 30% of our requirements under the Kyoto Protocol. I would welcome a debate on this issue.
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Kyoto Protocol - Cavity Block Housing
17/11/05 - I ask the Acting Leader to respond to me on the question of Ireland’s progress towards implementing the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. I recently raised the fact that the EU insulation directive, which requires every new house and every house offered for sale to have a certificate of insulation, comes into operation on 4 January 2006. I understand the Government has given an period of grace to construction initiatives for the following two years, which is appalling. This development puts Ireland outside the demands of the EU and worsens its position regarding the Kyoto Protocol. A more adverse development is the fact that houses are being built, particularly in Dublin, with 9 inch hollow concrete blocks. It is not possible to use this block to raise a house to the insulation standard found in other houses. We must discover why the practice of using this block has not ceased. The involvement of the HomeBond scheme in this issue raises questions of self-regulation.
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Juvenile Offenders
16/11/05 -The Children Act is a good piece of legislation. I recall when that legislation was going through the House, both Senator Ryan and I tabled amendments to provide for a commencement date on the total Act. It was not brought forward, however. The former Minister of State, who is now the Minister for Education and Science, assured us there would be no difficulty in putting the whole Act in place, yet we are still waiting. It is a lesson to be learned, but I will leave it at that.
The debate about parents and parenting is important and we should start at the beginning. Those who drafted our Constitution came to the conclusion that parents had extraordinary skills in parenting, education and a variety of other matters. I do not know what the thinking was behind that. It might have been a nice idea, but there was no sense to it. Senator Glynn is correct in saying that children can control their parents, but that may be because some parents have never learned the skill of controlling difficult adolescents. I am a teacher and it took me a lot of training and experience to learn how to control children with difficulties, so parents should not be expected to cope without knowing how to do so. Parenting courses should be provided for them.
I always apply the nursery test in this regard. I could visit a nursery in the nearest maternity hospital and without looking at the children, but only seeing their addresses, I would be able to give the Minister of State a profile of where they are likely to finish up during their lives. We all know that 90% of the prison population comes from clearly defined urban areas, so why do we not do something about it at an early stage?
I would like to talk more about child care, education and life skills, but my time is limited. I would like every child to be able to cook and learn interpersonal skills, but that cannot be done solely in school,which accounts for only six or seven hours per day. The remainder of the time will shape their life experiences. I would stake my reputation on guaranteeing that if every child in disadvantaged areas could be opened up to a whole new set of experiences, it would improve the situation. These experiences, include things they will not come across at school. Some children are not skilled in contact sports, but other pursuits like orienteering, archery, sailing, canoeing and cooking would awaken a passion in such children. That training would allow them to succeed in a given area of expertise.
Children from disadvantaged areas are brought closer to prison if they do not experience success in their lives. This is not a soft, liberal view; it represents hard thinking. As the Minister of State knows, in my professional capacity I have visited every detention area for young offenders in this State. I have dealt with the management of such centres and I know how they operate. They are doing fantastic work, but youngsters must still adjust to the outside world after being released.
Let us commence all of the Act, as well as teaching parenting skills to parents. We should also apply the nursery test and examine where children come from. We must then help them to do things they never did before, including travel and sporting activities. By doing so, we could change things for the better.
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The Work of Garda Síochána
15/11/05 - Some years ago I spoke at length about the murder of Mr. Brian Fitzgerald in Limerick. I said then that it was a turning point, so it is important to put on the record the extraordinarily good work the Garda Síochána is doing there. The force has cracked that particular murder case, with the confession yesterday and the arrest in Amsterdam. It would be useful to have the same tactics applied in the Dublin area. That is what Senator Brian Hayes is seeking.
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Ferns Report
15/11/05 - The Ferns Report is something on which we can build. I am not a student of the Bible, but I am aware of St. Paul’s letter to Timothy in which he said many negative things which we rightly do not accept in this day and age. He also said something with which I agree − that priests should be married because if they cannot look after a family and a home, they cannot be trusted with a church. We should return to that position.
I do not ask the church to listen to me. It will not listen to me because it has never done so. I am offering my view of what should happen. Decent, good and honourable priests should be allowed to take wives if that is what they wish to do. The clergy should grow up and recognise that there is nothing wrong with being a homosexual and being a practising homosexual priest. If married priests were recognised and gay priests were accepted, we would have identified and focussed the extent of the problem in this regard.
I would like to mention the attempts which have been made by Bishop Willie Walsh over the last three weeks to try to put across the other side of the argument on the issue of celibacy. Senator Lydon made the important point that it would be useful to define the term “celibacy”. To be celibate is to be unmarried. There is no problem if celibacy is a choice for people, but problems can be created if celibacy is a requirement and a compulsion. That is the platform on which we encounter difficulties.
I am interested in the response of the upper echelons of the Roman Catholic Church to the most damning report that has been produced, in terms of detail, about any diocese in the world. Questions have been asked and eyebrows have been raised about a number of dioceses in the United States. Given that the Ferns Report is the worst report on a Catholic diocese about the issue of child sexual abuse that we have ever seen, it is unacceptable that there has been absolute silence from Rome. As the leader of the Irish diplomatic corps in the Vatican, the Irish Papal Nuncio should recognise that he has a role to play in this regard. We need to hear from him on this matter.
Over the last 20 years, I have demanded on many occasions that disclosure and mandatory reporting be deemed to be essential aspects of the roles of people who deal with children, but I have never received the support of Governments of all shades on this issue. We need to reconsider this aspect of the matter, just as we need to insist that the Stay Safe programme be taught in every school in Ireland. I have said previously in this House that the two women who developed the Stay Safe programme were initially unable to get support from anyone. The INTO finally made the necessary funds available to the women to conduct their research over the course of a year, before they received some support from the then Minister, Senator O’Rourke. I was unable to convince the leadership in the Department of Education to give the programme its imprimatur so that it could be introduced in schools.
I am also concerned about what happened to the files in that case. The matter was very well investigated by the local Garda sergeant, who was obviously appalled by what he discovered. He put together some documents on the matter and presented his report to senior officials. The senior official in the area, the local chief superintendent, insisted on receiving the files. However, they were not available to the team which produced the Ferns Report because they have not been found since. I do not know why this is the case.
The chief superintendent, who has since died, was a major figure in the Knights of St. Columbanus. What role did they play in this affair? After his retirement, the chief superintendent was awarded the papal Bene Merente medal by Pope John Paul II. Every person in Ireland who has received this medal should ask questions about how it came to be awarded to this individual.
A range of organisations have introduced a malaise into the Catholic Church in various places around Europe and we need to examine how it happened here. The Knights of St. Columbanus have never been very helpful to me over the last 20 years so they cannot affect me any more adversely than they will probably do now. They are connected to the Ferns affair and should tell us their view on the matter.
We need programmes for parents in addition to the Stay Safe programme if we are to protect children from abuse. We also need an agreed method of investigating allegations of child sexual abuse. When I regularly dealt with such cases approximately ten years ago, I contacted all the health boards but could not find two boards which had the same approach to dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse. A significant number of health boards did not have any system for dealing with such allegations. Consequently, issues were either not dealt with or incorrectly handled and I discovered at least three cases where people were wrongly accused of abuse because of a lack of expertise in dealing with the issue.
We should deal with paedophilia. Anyone working with children, including teachers and priests, should be vetted. Vetting procedures are used in Northern Ireland and in other occupations. A person who is offered a job in the Houses of the Oireachtas is vetted for security purposes. It is as important to vet a person working with children. The church should get its act together and we should recognise that the victims of abuse, regardless of their background, need our support.
We must insist that the Health Service Executive introduces a protocol for dealing with child abuse of which we are all aware. I would like to hear the Minister of State’s opinion on this matter. There must be mandatory reporting of any allegation of child abuse and such an allegation must be dealt with clearly and properly. The Stay Safe programme must be introduced in every school in the country and there must be a nationwide system for vetting people who work with children. The Government should contact the Papal Nuncio and demand that the Vatican issue a view on the Ferns Report. If certain organisations, such as the Knights of St. Columbanus, have played a role in this affair, we need to hear from them.
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Irish Ferries
15/11/05 - What we are now witnessing and envisaging from Irish Ferries is worrying, not only in terms of what it has done but also its attitude. We saw what it did to the hairdresser two years ago and we now see what it has attempted to do to staff in recent months − to get rid of all of them. Its view is inspired by greed to hold everything to itself and to refuse to share whatever profits are being created. It is now putting at risk a significant structure of partnership and trust. This is something we should debate so that people will see the road we are going down.
When push comes to shove and the union takes the final decision that will be required of it to call industrial action, people will stand up in the House and ask why we are at that point. We are at it because Irish Ferries is refusing to accept the outcome of the Labour Court process, which has been established by the State in order to bring to a conclusion intractable industrial relations disputes. Irish Ferries should be urged to listen to the court and accept its recommendations.
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Cavity Block Housing
10/11/05 -I want to raise also an issue that has given me cause for concern. In the past week the OECD report was published, and we made reference to it here in the House, which states that Irish housing stock is probably 15% over-valued. If we take that as a starting point and recognise that a European directive comes into play in January which will cover issues such as insulation requirement in houses and the fact that in the greater Dublin area we have built approximately 225,000 cavity block houses in the past eight or nine years, none of which will complies with the directive that will be issued from Europe in January. Apparently, builders are looking forward to a period of grace in which they will not have to comply with that directive until, say, the end of 2007 if they have already applied for planning permission. This measure will consign thousands of young couples to buying houses which will not be unsaleable but will be the last to be sold. To put it simply, it means that from January of next year every house that comes on the market will have to get a rating for insulation, and I assure the House that is the way the market will work. I would like to have a debate with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government as to how we can approach that issue.
I would also like to know the reason Dublin is the only area in the country where cavity block housing continues to be built. I thought it ended in the rest of the country 30 years ago. In simple terms, it is almost impossible to insulate a cavity block house except with a very expensive wall cladding, which destroys everything within the house. This is a serious issue which will affect the next generation. It is a problem we are facing now but which we have been aware of for the past eight years. I want to know the reason for that.
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Social Welfare Benefits
09/11/05 - I believe in the concept that a year’s work should have a year’s pension contribution or entitlement attached to it. Even if that requires legislation which people from my side of the labour spectrum or people on the other side do not like, it would be the most important decision on pensions in the history of the State. It is crucial. The Minister should push forward with his proposal. I hope there will be a move towards that objective in the next budget. IBEC is correct that it will impose costs on employers. The organisation will have to deal with that. Some of the unions will oppose it because they do not want their members paying into it. We should take them all on about this. As a union member and general secretary I have tried to push that concept, unsuccessfully, on many occasions. I still believe in it. It would be a revolutionary change.
The carers’ issue is hugely important. Everybody supports carers. I wish to link this to the broader societal shifts that have occurred. The major societal shift is in the structure of our communities. We now have nuclear families and units. When I was a child, if somebody on the street had a serious illness or a family had suddenly fallen into bad times or had some difficulty with a son or daughter in America or in the UK, everybody on the street knew about it and there was a support structure.
If someone was not working for a week due to an aspect of his or her job, some level of support came through at the local shop and various other places. In many areas, these societal and community structures are gone. In towns and cities, particularly Dublin, one could be living next door to a family trying to cope with an extraordinary problem, such as separation, a bereavement, a child with a difficulty or a problem in the extended family, without knowing and with no supports available as a result. This is an additional reason as to why the carers’ issue is important.
This motion has to do with the redistribution of society’s wealth. The Minister’s job in Cabinet is to fight for a fairer redistribution. If benchmarks are to be placed on our society and democracy, one must be how well the disadvantaged, not necessarily economic, and those with dependencies are cared for. This debate must be about how best can we direct and focus social welfare spending.
The contradictory issues in this debate, such as a lone parent losing certain allowances, gives out the wrong message when we want to have an energetic and buoyant economic community. We must support people who have what is termed a “get up and go” attitude. Similarly people with disabilities must not lose out because they take on extra responsibilities and improve themselves. I hope the Minister shares this view.
All dependants, whether they are unemployed, for whatever reason, aged, which we are all facing if we live long enough, people coping with disabilities or their extended family supporting someone coping with a disability, need to have their share. I support the point made by Senator Bradford on the social capital of volunteers. As a large number is involved in voluntary caring, it is important that they are in a structured process, entitling them to build up contribution records through stamps or other appropriate methods. I ask the Minister to bring forward such a system in the forthcoming budget.
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Great Blasket Island
09/11/05 - Some ten years ago, the then Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, came to this House and proposed a Bill to create a national monument of na Blascaoid - An Blascaod Mór, go díreach. Idir an dá linn, bhí deacrachtaí ann, but it did not become a national monument because there was a challenge in the courts. Yesterday, however, I was taken aback to discover that a question answered in the other House indicates that the Government has no plan to declare the Blasket Islands a monument. Notwithstanding that the relevant legislation has been struck down, this seems to reflect a major turnabout in Government policy.
In this regard, I would appreciate a discussion with the Office of Public Works about developments on the islands. According to information imparted yesterday in the Dáil, it seems the OPW plans to buy the land, thus bringing it into State ownership. What is the intention if it is not to become a national park? There are certain monuments there, including the home of Peig Sayers, which must be considered. Will the Leader clarify the situation regarding the new report on the management of the island? I understand it will be presented to the Government but has not been agreed to by all the stakeholders and landholders on the island. I call for a discussion with the OPW on the Government’s proposals for An Blascaod Mór as seo amach.
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Re-Election of George Bush
3/11/04 - The people of America have spoken and have apparently decided to re-elect President Bush for the next four years, which I personally regret. Nonetheless, that is the American people's decision…
The greatest feature of President Bush's leadership has been the West's deteriorating relationship with the Islamic world. Now that he does not have to face re-election in four years' time, we should ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs to use our influence in Europe to encourage him to restore relations and extend a hand of friendship and understanding to the Islamic world. We must recognise that people practising the Muslim faith are being treated like Irish people were in the UK when bombings were taking place there - they are all being tarred with the same brush. We need to see a more subtle and open approach to this matter.
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