Order of Business - 21st November 2007

Order of Business - 21st November 2007
Senator David Norris: I cannot forbear from commenting on the previous contribution. Many of the decisions of An Bord Pleanála are bizarre and contradictory.
Senator Camillus Glynn: I do not disagree with that.
Senator David Norris: I look forward to the debate that was called for yesterday. I have plenty of things to say on this and can mention many cases of bad planning supported by Official Ireland here.
I wish to raise an educational matter. I am concerned at widespread reports that four so-called Protestant schools are engaged in legal action against the Department of Education and Science. I know we cannot trespass into an area that is being examined by the courts as it would be improper, but we should have a debate on this. It is apparently the result of the closure of four schools, including Greendale Community School, which is where Roddy Doyle taught. I met some of the teachers from Greendale at a conference some months ago and I would be delighted to be taught by them. They were splendid people. The difficulty arises because teachers are being forced into schools without interviews. I would have thought it was reasonable to want to interview somebody to find out whether he or she had the right qualifications and was the right person for the job in question rather than a square peg in a round hole.
I heard a commentator state yesterday that this is all connected with the national pay agreement and that this would far supersede any question of ethos. The reason I raise the question is that there has been no response whatever from the Government side to repeated calls from people such as myself and Senator O'Toole to re-examine the matter of ethos and the use of this troublesome word to exempt the churches from the basic legislation of the land, the equality legislation. Apparently the Government feels it is appropriate to stuff 30 teachers into Protestant schools without interview, although they may be very good teachers, because there is a question about the wage agreement, and yet we cannot be allowed to reopen the question of the appropriateness of the exemption for the churches in that legislation.
Churches that have been involved in serious abuse of children have retained the right to fire people like me simply because of the nature of their sexual orientation. That is intolerable in this country.
I also support Senator O'Toole on the matter of the Dublin Institute of Technology. I also have the letter from Senator Daly about the Irish research electronic library initiative. It is extraordinary that our seven leading universities should have access to this and the DIT, an institution of which we should be very proud, is kept out of it for some reason. There would be a saving because if the DIT had direct electronic access to this material, it would not need to buy all the journals.
An Cathaoirleach: We will not have a debate on it now.
Senator David Norris: I support Senator O'Toole's reasoned appeal that the Minister should examine this and include the DIT.
All those who complain about the Irish illegals and who challenged the word "illegal" in this House last week should read the interesting and well-argued article by Ms Trina Vargo in The Irish Times of 16 November last. She points out that, in fact, they are illegal and that, although there are difficult family circumstances with which one sympathises, we are now the third richest country in the world and anybody returning to Ireland would not come to a country where there were no jobs and would not be returned to a place where they might be tortured, interrogated or murdered. It would be a salutary exercise for those who squawked about the use of the word "illegal" to read that fine article.