Order of Business - 28th April 2009

Order of Business - 28th April 2009
Senator David Norris: I ask for a debate on the current difficulties that Dublin Bus is experiencing as a paradigm of the situation that exists now which can be very easily exploited by maverick elements. So many people are upset about the economy that it is easy to separate them from their legitimate union representatives. I deplore the fact that after six weeks' hard negotiations this has been frustrated in this way with intimidation, which is very regrettable.
I always hesitate to take a sectarian angle on anything and I regret having to use the word "Protestant". However, it is notable that the Church of Ireland Archbishop Dr. John Neill spoke very strongly about the way in which cuts, which he described as very discriminatory, will affect what he described as Protestant schools and described an unbelievable lack of understanding within the Department. Caretakers, secretaries and teachers will now all be lost in a dispersed and vulnerable community. I ask for a debate to allow us to look at this matter calmly.
I support Senator O'Toole's call for a debate on the Corrib gas field. This was disgracefully sold out by a previous Minister who is totally discredited. I have supported some of the campaigns and protests of Shell to Sea as have many distinguished clergy. I know of no connection that has been demonstrated between them and the Real IRA or any of these thugs. However, I would welcome an opportunity to scotch this. In response to my dear friend Senator Harris, I do not mind if he thought Lenin would call me an idiot. Lots of other people have done so too.
Senator Eoghan Harris: A useful idiot.
Senator David Norris: However, there was more of Stalin than Lenin about that.
Dracula is a very famous book written by a famous son of this city. He was a cousin of my great grandmother and I am glad to say I have entertained many members of his family here today, including D'Acre Stoker and previously his great grandson. The family has suggested that particularly since Romania has exploited this mercilessly and the town of Whitby has become the most popular resort in Britain on the basis of the Dracula connection, is it not time that we did something and put a statue of Bram Stoker somewhere in this city which he helped to make famous?
Senator Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.
Senator Mary M. White: Hear, hear.
Senator Eoghan Harris: In front of Anglo Irish Bank.
Senator David Norris: Mr. D'Acre Stoker is writing a sequel to Dracula and film contracts have already been signed.

Order of Business - 23rd April 2009

Order of Business - 23rd April 2009

Senator David Norris: I join Senator Fitzgerald and others in calling for the debate on the establishment of a national assets management agency, which was scheduled for last night, to be taken today. I do so with some force because at the beginning of this parliamentary term, just after Christmas, I made an initial suggestion to establish what I described then, and the record will show this, as a national property management agency. I returned to the issue on three further occasions. My proposal was derided in the House and not reported elsewhere. I believe this is where the idea originated - I certainly referred to it in the House and gave some details. While the Government has started to act, it has done so backwards and incorrectly. I believe its approach could backfire. The House could add to the debate on the issue. Perhaps the Government would listen with greater attention to what is said and get the details right.
I also ask that Mr. Peter Bacon be called to the House to answer Senators' questions about the establishment of a new assets management agency. While I have great respect for Mr. Bacon, I was horrified last week to hear him on RTE radio say that as a result of his proposal, the responsibility would land back where it belonged, namely, with the shareholders of the banks. In what sense were the shareholders responsible or guilty? They acted perfectly legally in investing their hard-earned savings in a national institution. I see no criminality or blame in that respect and feel a great deal of compassion for hard-working people, young business people and elderly people who placed their savings in banks. They should not be held up to contempt and scorned by someone like Mr. Bacon.
I am interested in the commentary of the American analyst, Mr. Krugman, who has derided the Irish economy. We need people out batting for us because Mr. Krugman, for all his Nobel prize in economics and so forth, is playing a domestic economic game and using Ireland as a weapon in an argument taking place in the United States. We should resist that.
I ask for a debate on No. 27, motion 7 on the Order Paper which was tabled by Independent Senators and deals with water supply contamination. One area in which we seem to be better than Britain is in producing e.coli contamination, which is 30 times higher in our water supply than in that of the United Kingdom. In the past year, 120,000 people were told to boil their water from their domestic supply. According to an Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, report published this morning, one third of water supply sources in this country are contaminated. It is time we woke up and smelt the water, if not the coffee. We need to do something on this issue, which is coming back home to roost in this House. Only a few Senators supported An Taisce when it pointed out that this would happen as a result of the unregulated development of one-off housing in the countryside. Practically all Senators, and certainly all those on the Government side, ridiculed, derided and lambasted An Taisce. Thank God for that organisation because at least it is awake.

Statements on the Budget - 9th April 2009

Statements on the Budget - 9th April 2009
Senator David Norris: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, but it is a qualified welcome. I do not mean any disparagement to his talents because I have known him as a very senior and capable public servant, a distinguished Member of this House, and a very capable Minister who understands clearly these matters, but for such a serious debate it would have been welcome if the Minister for Finance himself had turned up.
It would also have been helpful if we had had immediate delivery of the Minister of State’s speech. I had to ask for it. I also had to ask for a copy of the blue book, the supplementary budget. It was not delivered to Members of this House, as was traditionally the case. Neither was it given to Members of the other House until after the press got hold of it. I would like to think the Civil Service in this country was treating the Parliament with the respect with which it is due. I will continue to call for that.
At the outset the Government should acknowledge bad stewardship. I do not say that in a vindictive way. The Minister of State knows perfectly well that I have supported the Government when I thought it was doing appropriate things but there has been bad stewardship. We could spend the whole day giving a recital of it. I refer to PPARS, the overpayments to road builders, which was raised consistently by people such as me in the House, and waste in the health service. I previously mentioned a case where I lobbied with a parent to get delivery of a medical service for a particular syndrome. Three managers were appointed at the first stage but when the embargo on recruitment was introduced there was no delivery. That is wasteful. Those people are still in place and that kind of flab has to be cut out, however painful it is.
Let us consider the banks. The Minister of State spoke about our reputation. That is important but it is being squandered by these people who showed themselves to be nothing but beggars on horseback. What we have seen is gombeenery run riot. They alienated their own clients, the small people who pay taxes and who provided the funds. They deliberately moved managers around so that they would not know what was a good risk. They did not know how to rate people. They broke the contract between the ordinary people of this country and the banking institutions and for that reason I will have certain recommendations to make.
Scandal after scandal has been uncovered. Banks have taken money from people, stolen money from people’s accounts and overcharged. For the purpose of foreign investment, banks involved themselves in the United States of America and that involvement collapsed through the fraud of their own officials. They provided packages so that people could have offshore accounts. Is it any wonder our reputation is in tatters?
We have a good capacity in this country and it is the same with our natural resources. Let us look at our agricultural industry to which Senator MacSharry on the Government side referred. We have wonderful beef and our reputation is in tatters because of the way the beef industry operated. Again, it repackaged rotten goods and destroyed credibility. We need to clean this gombeenery out of this country, however painful it is.
How dare people like Standard and Poor’s and the rest of the international rating agencies downgrade this country. They should be held to account for their complicity in this mess that originated with the sub-prime collapse in the United States of America. This is an opportunity to do that by international agreement and for us to examine internationally the operations of multinationals that are now more powerful than governments. I would especially like to see Monsanto and Shell put in their boxes. Seriously damaging actions were taken to the detriment of our reputation.
I have made some proposals in this House. It is at least three months since I proposed the creation of a national property management agency. I am pleased to see some elements of that have been taken up under the national asset management agency, but it is not enough. We need a national property management agency into which all this property should be transferred. There is no constitutional impediment to this whatsoever. I know the rights of the owners of private property are guaranteed but the governing clause of the Constitution refers to the social good, the good of the people. I could quote it if necessary. I would love to see a property developer, speculator or bank go to the Supreme Court and argue that his or its private speculative interests were of more significance under the law and Constitution than the welfare of the people.
By way of a little coda, I must state I have never been a republican, unlike the Minister. I have never really acknowledged anything other than a cosmetic argument for a 32-county republic but it is now made and that is what we must move towards. One of the factors inhibiting us is the separation of the two parts of our island. We are inhibited in terms of certain tax structures but we should be fighting together. I am sorry to say the British have let us down by devaluing their own currency and selfishly not joining the eurozone. It would be much better if Newry and Dundalk were in the same regime. I say this against my deepest cultural persuasions.
We need positive ideas and they need to be listened to. We do not need all these Robespierres and Mesdames Defarges around this House calling every week for somebody else’s head or a bucket of blood in respect of some personality-based issue. We need a couple of really good ideas and this is the time to implement them.
I did not believe I would see an asset management agency in my lifetime and I welcome the one to be established. Crony capitalism was referred to and that is exactly what we have. In addition to establishing the national asset management agency or property management agency, the banks should be nationalised. They should be drawn together into one great bank of Ireland that can have its reputation restored, whatever the cost. I do not want to see any property speculator making anything back out of this. So what if they lose their houses; I have no pity for them. So what if they go on social welfare. They made other people lose their houses and require social welfare. Let them taste what they themselves have delivered to the people.
A very serious problem confronts us. We will have a higher national debt, higher inflation, higher interest rates, higher unemployment and higher oil prices. We must stop doing what is good for Dublin 4 in the belief that it is good for the entire country. What is good for the country will be good for Dublin 4 as well. What we need to do is reduce Government spending and raise taxes fairly. Not all the budgetary provisions are fair. We need to stimulate the economy and protect and create jobs.
With regard to fair taxes and efficiencies, I call for the establishment of a new Ministry. In the United States there is a Department of Homeland Security. I want a Minister for home security to protect ordinary people’s mortgages and ensure they at least have a roof over their heads. I want an audit to be conducted within every single Ministry and the results forwarded to the Committee of Public Accounts for examination. There is flab around the place. There are 58 different accounting systems in the Health Service Executive alone. What is that about? Let us cut it all out.
We are again requiring the Central Bank to engage in financial regulation. We are going round in circles because this is where we started. We found the system we had to be unsatisfactory and then established the Financial Regulator, which apparently was unsatisfactory because the regulations were not imposed and the authorities did not engage in supervision.
Why not introduce legislation to outlaw non-recourse provisions in loan agreements? If a property developer has three developments in construction and defaults on one loan, the banks are prevented from going after him in respect of the other two. Why? They should all be part of the same bundle.
Why did I have to ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Hanafin, six months ago the position on claiming a social welfare benefit? I have become aware that there were people from outside this country getting friends to go into the social welfare offices to collect their money for them. When I asked the Minister whether they were being asked to produce identification, she did not know. I now know they were not. At least it is now known but it is ridiculous that it took me to point it out in this House. If I want to connect a telephone, I am asked to produce my passport, birth certificate and bank statements, yet we are handing out money as I have described.
Why not stop the extra child care supplement this September and then start the free year immediately? There is no joined-up thinking. Why is there a gap? Why are we only changing tax rates at the end of the year? We have the technology and talent to address this. There will be an eight-month gap before the measures are implemented. We are in a crisis but not behaving as if we were.
Betting does not do very much for this country. Why not double betting tax? Why not have a proper tax on travel abroad?
Owing to the time restrictions necessary to allow us all to contribute, I did not have the opportunity to make the kind of plea I usually make on behalf of the people who have lobbied me. I will leave this for the Finance Bill. However, I must say one of the meanest measures was the cut to the scheme for community support for older people, which is responsible for meals on wheels, electricity, etc. This is disgraceful and the scheme should be restored. The cut will only save a piddling amount of money. I will have more to say about fairness when discussing the Finance Bill.
My heart goes out to the Minister for Finance. He looked shattered, over-worked and exhausted in the Dáil. We must all support the Government but it must do the right and radical thing and ensure these skunks do not get away with it any more. I will support the Government in every measure it implements in this regard, including the nationalisation of the banks.

An Cathaoirleach: The Senator has reduced the time allowed to Senator Quinn.

Senator David Norris: I have not. The Cathaoirleach can be flexible.

Order of Business - 9th April 2009

Order of Business - 9th April 2009
Senator David Norris: I agree with my colleague Senator Twomey that we need a full debate on the budget, particularly on the national property management agency, as I call it. I suggested it in the House four months ago. All the banks must be nationalised. If I am permitted to be heard by being reported, I wish to point out that I initiated and ran successfully two businesses in this city for many years, yet in many quarters I seem to be heard only if I am talking about James Joyce or buggery, and I am fed up to my back teeth with it. I hope there will be some coverage of the proceedings in this House and the important debates to which we will all contribute.
I want to talk a little about human rights. Since human rights have been blown off the agenda by the necessary financial debate, can we have a full debate on human rights, particularly on the case of Ms Pamela Izevbekhai? She is a woman who is protesting her innocence even though she has not been convicted of anything, yet two Governments are raised against her, the Irish Government and the Nigerian Government. Persons from within the Government in Nigeria have stated they are prepared to come over here. They have already been discredited for giving inappropriate testimony in a British court.
Official sources have been leaking information against one civilian during a court case. Two Governments are implicated and there are leaks. I want an inquiry into how this is done. We were not allowed to talk very much about this case because it was ongoing. How is it that prejudicial material can make its way into The Sunday Times against this individual, with two Governments against her, who is trying to protect her children?

An Cathaoirleach: That case is still before the courts.

Senator David Norris: I know it is but I have said nothing that is prejudicial. I have asked for and I demand an inquiry into the leaks.

An Cathaoirleach: I understand that.

Senator David Norris: I want a reply today from the Leader.
I and many others, including Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú on the Government benches, spoke out against the revolting practice of torture. We now know that medical personnel were involved in supervising and assisting in torture with the help of the CIA. This is based on a leaked report by the International Committee of the Red Cross. I do not believe we will really clean out that Augean stable until Bush is indicted and impeached. Cheney, Rumsfeld and that appalling disgrace to womanhood, Condoleezza Rice, should be indicted before the International Criminal Court.
On the issue of human rights, when will we receive the Civil Partnership Bill? My mailbox is full of appeals from Irish citizens who are caught by the absence of this legislation and the laziness of the Government in confronting it. Another US state is legalising full marriage between same sex couples but we have done nothing so far. We are punishing our own citizens.
All these matters must be addressed. I call for attention to be paid to the important financial debate in the House today. We are a second House of the Oireachtas but an important one. I also call for a full debate on human rights.

Order of Business - 8th April 2009

Order of Business - 8th April 2009
Senator David Norris: It is some years since I said in the House that those who gloated at the demise of communism in the Soviet Union might find themselves attending the obsequies of capitalism during their lifetimes. To a certain satisfactory extent, this seems to be occurring. Socialism is beginning to happen, but it is a forced conversion.
I welcome the fact that the Government has created a new asset management agency. I suggested this four months ago but it was something more radical. We will take over toxic assets valued at more than €90 billion, but I proposed the creation of a national property management agency. The Government has done half of this, but I wanted it to sequester the assets of the property speculators. I was told of a constitutional bar in the form of the protection of private property. I do not believe this because of the Constitution's governing clause, which covers the social and public good. No property speculator could go to the Supreme Court and argue that his or her private rights were more important than the welfare of the people. We should consider whether the speculators should ever get their money, because they should not. Will the Minister explain this issue?
I am disappointed that Moody's rating agency has re-rated our banks. As a result, there was a catastrophic 30% decrease in their share prices this morning. The Moody's and Standard and Poor's agencies should be examined by the international community because, after signally failing to stop the horses bolting, they have slammed the door in the stable boy's face at a particularly inopportune time. As it was not appropriate, governments should scrutinise and rid themselves of such agencies. In their place, an international independent ratings agency should be introduced.
We must ensure the people are protected. I am glad that Ministers of State are being winnowed out, but I would like a Minister of State to be appointed to look after the welfare of people in their homes and their mortgages. Due to the removal of mortgage interest relief after the seven-year mark, people will be unable to make repayments and there will be repossessions, which will lead to a downward spiral. We must look after the people.
I started to make a point yesterday. While we may reconsider major infrastructural projects such as roads, we cannot afford to halt maintenance. I am horrified to see that road maintenance will be abandoned. Frank Gallagher lost his beautiful daughter when, while on her way to Shannon Airport, she hit an inappropriate road surface treatment. In the Kentstown massacre, five schoolchildren were deprived of their lives because of an inappropriate road treatment and a lack of proper maintenance. It cannot be allowed nor can we cut back in terms of fire brigades. These matters relate to people's lives and welfare.
I look forward to tomorrow's debate on the budget, as I will have plenty to say. This time, I hope that newspapers and "Oireachtas Report" will cover this House and the good economic ideas held by many of us on all sides of the House.

Statements on Bowel Cancer Awareness - 7th April 2009

Statements on Bowel Cancer Awareness - 7th April 2009
Senator David Norris: I am also glad to have the opportunity to take part in this debate and I would like to take up something which my colleague, Senator Keaveney, said in reference to a Minister of State, Deputy Tony Killeen. I commend him on his courage as this is quite a private and sensitive matter. It took courage for him to come out and say that he had this form of cancer. This will encourage people to get screened. It was a very important and courageous act and we should salute it.
Speaker after speaker has said that we all seem to have been supplied with the same statistics but there is no harm in repeating them. There may be no active harm but it is a pain in the fanny. It does not do much good because what do we have for an audience? We have distinguished people from the Irish Cancer Society and former Senator O'Meara. Although they may take up some of the ideas we have, it is unlikely to be covered by the broadcast media. Perhaps it will be by one person. I do not see much point in repeating the statistics, although the incidence and late diagnosis is very worrying.
Like some of my colleagues, I will speak from personal experience, as my oldest school friend died of cancer of the colon on Friday night and I will be at his funeral tomorrow. I learned an enormous amount from him, primarily about the very high standards in Irish nursing and the remarkable facilities we have. We must bear in mind that there are a several matters that are important from the patient's perspective.
This was particularly difficult for him because he was a very gentlemanly person, although not in any effete way, as he was quite a masculine man. He was refined, fastidious and disliked anything to do with mess or unpleasantness. It was terribly ironic that this horrible illness should have struck him in that area of the body. One must be sensitive but I learned an enormous amount and my life has been enriched by the six or eight weeks that he lived since the diagnosis.
I saw the way somebody in considerable distress could face with dignity a judicious approach to everything, with kindness and understanding for the people and friends around him who were distressed by this illness. I also learned that it is sometimes selfish and cruel to try to persuade people to take the chance of prolonging their lives with chemotherapy. This man had seen his sister and other relatives die awfully in the same way.
Things have improved and I have let positive issues out in order to keep both options open. Eventually my friend went for chemotherapy and it seemed to be doing an enormous amount of good. I do not know whether it was because chemotherapy was so severe as to weaken the wall of the bowel but there was a rupture and he had to have invasive surgery, which was very unpleasant. Two days later he had a massive heart attack in the intensive care unit. I am quite glad for him because that was the best outcome.
I am glad that he took the chance of having chemotherapy but in those matters it is a question for the individual. It is unfair when somebody has what is very probably a terminal illness to bully them, either family or surgeons. Doctors should be very careful about what they say. For example, it is not helpful to say when somebody has been operated on that a stent was inserted into a liver, for example, to drain poison but the spread or severity of the cancer is much worse than first thought. I am not accusing the particular surgeon in this case and there were other elements involved. It can have a depressing effect to be told that so bluntly.
When people say they are dealing with such issues every day, it is meant to be helpful but it is not, because each individual diagnosis and progress towards death is quite personal and unique. My friend was extraordinarily lucky because he had a very strong religious faith, which I happen to share. That cannot be overestimated because it is as good as or better than the drugs, although I do not undervalue drugs. We must consider such options.
We must also understand that apparently small issues such as diet are very important. When people are at that stage they must be allowed eat whatever they want. They do not need to be told that they should eat this, that or the other. They should be left at it.
Looking at the broader scheme, I have been aware since I was a student of bowel cancer because one of my great pals was a medical student. She told me the story of a young man, just married, who had bowel cancer. I asked if anything could be done and she told me it was too late, which was awful. We know the old phrase that justice delayed is justice denied but screening denied is fatal.
I will put on record some comparative statistics. We have cervical screening, which costs €42 million and breast screening at a cost of €24 million. The cost of bowel screening would be €14 million or €15 million, which is comparatively small. Considering the first two figures I mentioned - they were not put on the record before - deal only with one very valued half of the human race, women, bowel cancer screening would get twice the value, and it would pay for itself inside five years. The Minister of State would know better than I do that we are approaching a five-year plan, according to the Taoiseach. Let us consider including in the five-year plan this financially sound approach to medicine.
We understand 70% of people would attend for bowel screening, which is a very high rate. I have certain intestinal difficulties and although I do not believe they are cancerous, we are trying to find out what is going on. I have had things stuck in everywhere. The minute I felt a bit awkward, I went to the doctor as I do not give a damn and I have absolutely no shame. I got on to the problem straight away and had a colonoscopy immediately. This was because I am on Plan E in the VHI; I was not going to give my place to another person as I am not that much of a Christian.
However, that is not appropriate and in matters of life and death we should not have a two-tier system. We need to do what we can to reduce this problem, as a four-week result system is the best. We still have people waiting more than six months, which can do real damage to their health. We need investment in more gastroenterologists. Prevention is possible, although not in all cases, if people have a good diet, watch their weight and enjoy pleasures moderately with not too much smoking and drinking.
Will the Minister of State be kind enough to pass on to his colleague, the Minister, Deputy Harney, a message from all sides of the House concerning cystic fibrosis? I raise this because we were invited to do so by the Leader, Senator Cassidy. When we tried to raise the matter this morning, he said we would have an opportunity to do it when the Minister for Health came to the House. She is not here so I hope the Minister of State does not think it inappropriate for me to ask him to carry the message to her that we are all thrilled that this commitment has been given.
It is very difficult to believe that any builder will engage in a major building programme in this way. May we have facts, figures and a commitment to a commencement date? It would be cruel in the extreme to deceive people with cystic fibrosis. Will the Minister of State use his good offices to persuade the Minister, Deputy Harney, to come into the House to give us a clear and cast-iron commitment on the matter?

Order of Business - 7th April 2009

Order of Business - 7th April 2009
Senator David Norris: I very much agree with Senator Fitzgerald and applaud her judicious approach in stating this side of the House, including both the Opposition and Independents, will support the Government on necessary measures that are prudent and in the interest of the people.
Everybody's attention is focused on the economy. It did not give me any pleasure to hear an international correspondent on the radio this morning describe Ireland as one of the most troubled economies in Europe. However, it is a fact and we must find our way out. It is not just a question of economics and of impressing our European allies or those discredited agencies such Standard & Poor's, or of rescuing our own blackguardly banks. There must be a commitment to fairness. The Government has, above all else, a duty of care to its citizens and to provide and underpin health, welfare and safety. It has not done so satisfactorily to date. The abolition of agencies such the Equality Authority, and the Combat Poverty Agency in particular, was disastrous as we sail into this financial maelstrom.
Fairness is what we will be looking for in this budget, in addition to the protection of ordinary citizens. Senator Fitzgerald mentioned cystic fibrosis. I listened to the developments in this regard and am delighted. Ms Orla Tinsley, that courageous, wonderful young woman, said she was glad of the progress made but it is still pie in the sky. We want that pie landed for the people with cystic fibrosis. I find it difficult to believe at this critical time the talk of builders being in a position to build now and get paid later. Will the Leader ensure the Minister for Health and Children comes to the House to give us solid, cast-iron guarantees that can be cashed at the end of the day to ensure this gets done?
Social welfare is an important element. I sometimes wonder whether this House is listened to because it is three to five months since I raised the question of people who are not citizens of this country collecting social welfare. I asked the Minister whether such people were asked to provide identification. I was told people were having their welfare collected and sent back to eastern Europe for them. That is a scandal in these times when everybody who is deservedly on social welfare needs to be protected from cuts.
I was horrified when I heard this morning of the cuts of €30 million that are to affect Dublin City Council. Reference is being made to cutbacks that are to affect the fire brigade and overtime payments. Fires do not occur within office hours and we must ensure therefore the cutbacks do not expose people to danger.
With regard to road repairs, every aspect of transport must be examined in terms of infrastructure, even my own beloved metro. I believe the metro will withstand the test and I am glad the Minister for Transport, Deputy Dempsey, is holding out in this regard. On the question of cutting back on road repairs, has any Member of the House recently been on the campshires along Dublin's north quays? There is a catastrophic hole outside the main conference centre that would be break one's axle.
An Cathaoirleach: In accordance with the Order of Business on the last day we were sitting-----
Senator David Norris: I have had my three minutes.
An Cathaoirleach: -----three minutes are allowed for main speakers.
Senator David Norris: I thank the Cathaoirleach for drawing my attention to that and I am happy to sit down. I look forward to the budget debate and I ask the Leader to ensure the Minister will be invited to the House to answer my question.

Order of Business - 2nd April 2009

Order of Business - 2nd April 2009
Senator David Norris: I welcome the changes to the Order of Business, niggardly though they be. Five minutes is equal to £19/11, which was used in days gone by during sales in the shops. Why not go the whole hog and provide for an hour? However, the idea is a good one.
I wish to raise the case of Pamela Izevbekhai, which is a very important matter. We are all concerned about the practice of female genital mutilation. There appears to be some question about the falsity of the documents that were produced, the question of lying. A question also arises about the role of the Nigerian ambassador, who stated that female genital mutilation is a non-existent problem, that it does not exist in that country and that Pamela Izevbekhai has damaged her country. She said the Government was investigating the people who supplied the information on female genital mutilation, yet we have on record the Nigerian Government's submission to the United Nations from which it is clear the figures in this regard range from 2% to 65%. That is not a non-existent problem.
The idea of investigating people who collect such statistics in an honest manner is chilling indeed. One wonders what might happen to Pamela Izevbekhai if she goes back to a country whose ambassador so clearly lies in this country. There are serious concerns about this matter. I suggest we might look at it.
With regard to the economy, I note that one of my colleagues has called for a metaphorical head. A Senator on the Government side invoked the French Revolution when speaking about social unrest. He seemed to look for a physical head in a basket, which is a little extreme. We should be prepared to engage in robust debate about the economic realities in this country, which are stark indeed. Senators have mentioned the chilling newspaper photographs of up to 1,000 people queueing for food parcels in Dublin. To my mind, that is one of the classic indicators of a depression. It is as sinister, at least, that a State organisation, Bord na Móna, has declared it may be unable to pay its pensions. I do not think Bord na Móna has been privatised yet - if it has been, it has been a disaster. I have highlighted two worrying indications that we may have reached a tipping point. Rather than merely calling for people's heads, we need to look at the situation calmly and rationally and reach conclusions that will assist the recovery of our economy.

Motion on Economic and Recovery Authority - 1st April 2009

Motion on Economic and Recovery Authority - 1st April 2009
Senator David Norris: I do not intend to take any excursions into Standard & Poor's given I exercised myself quite freely on that subject on the Order of Business. Although I agree with the points made by Senator Hanafin I will concentrate this evening on issues I believe are more relevant.
I am disappointed the Opposition and the Government were not able to put forward a motion with which they could agree, given that they appear to agree on a lot. There has been a fair amount of point scoring during the debate. The Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, gleefully engaged in this when he said that while he welcomes the support of Fine Gael, the good ideas were Government ideas and that others had not been properly costed. That is the state we are at. Obviously, we have not comprehended the nature of the crisis and the two principal parties are not prepared to get behind ideas rather than partisan interests, which is a pity. There is a great deal of sentiment, coincidentally, in the area of green energy in particular.
This afternoon I met a man who was wearing an interesting pin in his collar, which I thought was an aeroplane. I asked him what the aeroplane represented and he told me it was not an aeroplane but a symbol for wind energy. The man concerned is a Minister's adviser. Obviously, this matter is being taken seriously. A couple of weeks ago, I was the guest of a friend of a neighbour, Mr. Clarke, at Westbrook Motors and was permitted to drive the new Toyota all electric car, which costs €1 million. I drove the car around Merrion Square.
Senator John Paul Phelan: I hope Senator Norris was careful.
Senator David Norris: While I was a little nervous, I was very careful. It was fantastic. It was silent, with tremendous acceleration and one had good control of the car. That is green energy. It was interesting to hear that one of only 11 prototypes was made available to a local garage in north central Dublin.
I want principally to speak about wave energy. I believe we have an opportunity to get involved in and become a world leader in this area. As with food, we have the best national resources. We are one of the four principal areas in the world wherein wave potential exists, including the Atlantic coast of Europe, in particular Ireland, the west coast of North America, San Francisco to British Colombia, Hawaii and New Zealand. We are one of four countries with the richest potential for harvesting this energy source. We have the capacity and innovation to make it.
I wish to put on the record, as other Members did, that various companies are doing well in this area. The company to which I refer is Wavebob, which is involved in developing this energy in consultation with other major international companies.

It seems that the single flaw in the Fine Gael proposal is that we do not need the extra level of bureaucracy advocated in it. We need to clear away the dead wood and red tape and allow the most energetic promotion of new ideas on the part of the Government.
Wavebob is important because it has solved a number of problems. The Wavebob structure is an axi-symmetric buoy on slack moorings, which makes it inherently seaworthy. Its ability to de-tune, or switch off, in seconds is vitally important in a resonating energy absorber. As waves change all the time, a particularly sensitive and flexible response is needed to collect their energy. The Wavebob structure is able to respond to high waves of long duration. The natural frequency of the Wavebob, unlike many other buoys, may be set to match the typical ocean swell, thereby facilitating good energy absorption. The Wavebob structure can ride large waves of up to 40 m high. A structure of this type must be sensitive enough to respond to the variability of wave systems. The Wavebob structure, which has low operating costs and high availability, can be made fairly simply. The fact that it can stay in the sea for 25 years - its components are changed on a regular basis - means that it attracts low capital and maintenance costs while retaining a high level of output. It can produce enough electricity to supply up to 700 households. I remind the Minister of State that many innovative products of this nature are available. We have good technology. Wavebob, which is an important company, is collaborating with Vattenfall, a Scandinavian company that is at the leading edge of a technology that needs to be encouraged.

Order of Business - 1st April 2009

Order of Business - 1st April 2009
Senator David Norris: On the downgrading of Ireland's AAA credit rating by Standard & Poor's, which is a commercial firm and rating agency, Standard & Poor's was at the centre of the mess which caused the international financial collapse. It was among those rating firms and being paid for it by the firms they were rating. It joined the race to the bottom and, as a result, missed some of the toxic elements in the bundles being provided to international financial institutions.
It was heavily involved in the mess involving sub-prime mortgages. I see Standard & Poor's as an essential element of the economic catastrophe facing America and the rest of the planet. It decided to amend Ireland's credit position by moving us away from our AAA rating. There might well be good grounds for that - I do not know. While I am not in a position to comment on that, I would have thought that it would have been intelligent for Standard & Poor's to have waited for the Government to make its budget day proposals before it popped out its little nose in this respect.
Senator Terry Leyden: Hear, hear.
Senator David Norris: When I heard that Mr. Frank Gill, who is one of Standard & Poor's senior executives, was apparently suggesting that regime change was needed in Ireland, I thought it was an April fool's prank. It takes a hell of a cheek for someone from such a discredited agency to make such a comment.
Senator Terry Leyden: Hear, hear.
Senator David Norris: I note that a serious interpretation was placed on the words of Standard & Poor's in the other House yesterday. I refer to the comments of Deputy Enda Kenny, who asked the Taoiseach if he agreed with Standard & Poor's "that there is no confidence in the Irish Government, that the Taoiseach has failed to deal with the economic challenges of the country, that he has presided over a disastrous banking system, that we have had a calamitous loss of competitiveness and that the Taoiseach should go". I do not think I have ever previously heard a senior representative of an international financial group calling for the removal from office of a democratically elected prime minister. While I have difficulties with some of the Government's policies, I understand that we need a certain amount of democracy. It is outrageous for a person from such a background to call for regime change, which is apparently what an official from Standard & Poor's has done. We need a fully independent and non-commercial rating agency. Perhaps it could be a function of the European Union.
When Senator John Paul Phelan and I previously raised the fate of the residents of Bethany House in Carlow, we were given various undertakings to the effect that the elderly and vulnerable people in question would not be disadvantaged or moved without consent. I was not the only person to argue that moving quite functional elderly people into a hospital where they would be bed-ridden for almost the entire day would be like imposing a sentence of death on them. We were assured that this would not happen without consent. I have in front of me signed forms making it clear that consent was not being given. I understand that ambulances started to arrive at the front door of Bethany House a few days ago to remove casualties. These were not casualties. These were unwilling elderly people who were forcibly removed from the nursing home. Will the Leader transmit to the Minister for Health and Children our continued interest in and our grave concern about this matter?
While he is doing that, he might inform the Minister, Deputy Harney, that I strongly support my colleagues who have appealed for urgent priority to be given to the cystic fibrosis patients who avail of the much-needed facility at St. Vincent's Hospital. I do not intend to reopen that debate now, as I have contributed to it on enough occasions in the past.