Order of Business - 1st May 2007
Order of Business - 1st May 2007
Mr. Norris: I join my colleagues in offering my
thanks and praise to the officers and staff of the
House and the good words said about those retiring
by various colleagues. I wish to mention my
colleague on these benches, Senator Henry, with
whom I have not always agreed. We have had our
ups and downs but she added something special
with her particular tone of voice, the reasonable
way in which she made her case, the dogged way
in which she brought reports on mental health
and such issues to the fore and her special medical
expertise. I believe she will be replaced by
another remarkable woman whose name I will
not put on the record in case I am accused of
prejudicing the electorate. I hope to be re-elected
and look forward to working with my colleagues
if I am lucky enough to get back.
It will be an interesting election. The Taoiseach
has already shown his mettle. I will not use the
three words Mr. Haughey used about him but I
was struck by the couple of strokes which have
emerged so far. There has been an effective gagging
of the Mahon tribunal which has been nicely
corked up now. I congratulate him on his forthcoming
speech to the Parliament in the next
island; that was a nice little electoral dig-out by
Mr. Blair. However, serious matters remain and
I hope these will be addressed by the House in
the next session.
On 6 March 2007 and not for the first time, I
referred to the troubled matter of abortion and I
read a letter into the record of the House because
it was the fifth anniversary of a letter written by
a wonderful and dignified young woman whose
pregnancy involved a foetus with severe chromosomal
abnormalities incompatible with life. She
stated in her letter that she did not advocate
social abortion and she was not a campaigner on
this issue. Her letter states:
I am angry that men I do not know and who
do not know me ... have decided that my body
is their demesne; that they will have the right
to decide how my family will cope with this
very real tragedy; that, regardless of the
emotional and physical distress for us, I must
do what they want; that their bigoted will rules
my body.
We should have listened to that voice five years
ago. We have been reprimanded also by the
2159 Order of 1 May 2007. Business 2160
[Mr. Norris.]
Judiciary for not having the courage to act legislatively
in this very difficult matter.
I wish to raise another matter because I have
been contacted by somebody who raised it
before. I refer to the question of sudden cardiac
death in young adults. This is a great tragedy and
it is estimated that 100 people under 35 years of
age die every year in Ireland. Action has been
taken to address this condition and a screening
centre is located in the Mater Hospital. This is a
genetic condition and the families of victims need
to be screened in order to anticipate a possible
difficulty. This centre is entirely supported by voluntary
contributions. We should be pressing to
have such centres established throughout the
country to help prevent this tragedy of young
death. It is very often the case that young athletes
are victims. In the dying day of this Oireachtas I
ask that the incoming Government will immediately
remove the 21% VAT on defibrillators.
These should be available much more widely. If
they are funded by voluntary contributions it is
obscene to levy tax on them.
3 o’clock
I welcome the introduction of this petitions
committee and I commend the Members of this
House and the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission
for its proposal and also the
Leader of the House for putting it on
the Order Paper. It will make this
House more democratically relevant. I was a little
concerned that perhaps it would clog up the business
of the House but I have consulted with the
primus inter pares of our group — the first among
equals, not the leader — I remind Senator
O’Toole he is not getting away with that even on
this last day. He assures me that this will be an
extended function of the Seanad and will take
place outside. Such committees exist in the European
Parliament and in the Scottish Parliament.
It is a good idea which I would welcome.
Dr. Mansergh: From this side of the House I
wish to thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for the
unfailing courtesy, latitude and on occasion,
necessary firmness he has shown to all Members
of this House. It is strange a strange feeling to
have a one-Chamber Oireachtas although this is
very temporarily the case.
I wish to endorse fully all the sentiments
expressed by Senator Brian Hayes about the
importance of exercising one’s democratic rights.
He made the valid point that we are a young
democracy. In that context I wish to recite a
couple of lines from Charles Kickham:
The nations have fallen, but thou still art
young.
Thy sun is but rising, while others have set,
And — tho’ slavery’s cloud o’er the morning
hath hung,
The full noon of freedom will beam round
thee yet.
Whatever Government is elected by the will of
the people to run the affairs of the nation over
the next five years will inherit an economy in
rude good health.
Debate will now take place on the hustings and
not in this House. Statistics show a GNP growth
of 7.4% in 2006. That is the highest it has been
since the peak of the Celtic tiger years in 2000.
Industrial employment is up 2,800. Unemployment
stands at 4.2%. Industrial earnings are up
5.3%.
Mr. B. Hayes: What about the small farmer?
