Order of Business - 11th November 2008

Order of Business - 11th November 2008
Senator David Norris: I concur with colleagues who pointed out that the House will deal only with statements this week. However, the situation is even worse than we imagined because we did exactly the same thing last week. On Tuesday, 4 November, the only business in the House was statements on broadcasting standards. On Wednesday, 5 November, we had statements on medical cards for those aged over 70 years and HIQA, while on Thursday, 6 November, we managed to discuss a little scrap of legislation which lasted until close to lunch time. That was the week’s business in the House. This week, the House will have statements on rural development today, statements on the fishing industry and the Criminal Assets Bureau tomorrow and statements on radon protection measures on Thursday. If this continues, I will be forced to join the ranks of those who call for the abolition of Seanad Éireann because it is an utter waste of time. It is idiotic for the House to have disputes about whether we can have time on the Order of Business when the House is doing nothing else. Surely we should extend the Order of Business and deal with a few issues of relevance to people. 3 o’clock
I am glad that one of my colleagues made a glancing reference to the fact that today marks the 90th anniversary of the armistice in the First World War. I pay tribute to this Government for at last starting to face up to the reality of what took place and the large number of Irish people who were involved in the war. Some 58,000 Irish people died in the First World War, more than the number of casualties suffered by the United States of America, but we refused to countenance this and allowed the memorial at Islandbridge to sink into decrepitude. I have just spoken to the former Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Reverend Victor Griffin, who told me that he received death threats in the 1970s and he and his wife were given police protection because he permitted a service of commemoration to be held in the cathedral. The walls of the cathedral and deanery were also daubed with the slogan, “Brits Out”. I welcome the fact that the situation has moved on and that the House played a role in rectifying the true injustice perpetrated against those unfortunate people, of whom a proportionately greater number were Irish, who, suffering shell shock, were shot at dawn.
I agree with Senator Alex White’s comments regarding the Equality Authority and Human Rights Commission. For several weeks, I have been raising this astonishing issue, which has been taken up by Carl O’Brien in The Irish Times. In a magisterial article published in the same newspaper today Carol Coulter makes perfectly clear that these two bodies are being specifically targeted in a vicious manner by the Government. As is perfectly clear from the figures, this is being done to muzzle them precisely because they spoke out. For example, funding for the Human Rights Commission has been reduced by 24%, while the budget of the Equality Authority has been cut by 43%. Why?
An Cathaoirleach: The Senator has made his point.
Senator David Norris: We are entitled to know the facts. I ask for an immediate debate on this issue. According to Ms Coulter’s report, Departments, State agencies, local authorities and educational institutions made up 54% of the case files under the Equal Status Acts in 2005, 60% in 2006 and 69% in 2007. The Equality Authority is the only body within the remit of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform which is listed for decentralisation. This will result in a massive loss of professional expertise because, to put the best complexion on the matter, we will have 30 people in Roscrea, none of whom will have expertise in the equality area, and a handful of others left stranded in Dublin.
We are also neutering and spancilling the Human Rights Commission, which was established on a statutory basis as part of the Good Friday Agreement, under which it should be of equal strength to its counterpart in the North. It is quite clear why this is so and one good reason is that they came out with a report on rendition and the use of Shannon Airport.
An Cathaoirleach: The Senator can make those points during the debate.
Senator David Norris: Anyone who stands up to Government will get smacked and the budget will be an excuse.