Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment to the Order of Business tabled by my colleague Senator Daly. It would be opportune to commemorate the founding of Cumann na mBan 100 years ago and I regret that the Government has not taken the initiative. These women dedicated themselves in a selfless way to achieving Irish independence. There is a great debate on the need for more women to be involved in politics. Rather than seeking artificial means of achieving that, one way to do it would be to highlight the contribution these women made, which gave not only the women but the men in these Houses the opportunity to take their place in an independent Irish Parliament. The dismissive, arrogant way the English Government and politicians are treating Scotland indicates what would be happening if we had not achieved our independence 100 years ago and were pursuing it now. We should value those women and properly commemorate them by ensuring buildings and public roads are there as a permanent reminder of their selfless sacrifice for this country. I am very happy to support the amendment.

Could we arrange for the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, or his successor in the event that the Labour Party and the Government ever recover their moral fibre, to come here to discuss the issue of the report by the Competition Authority in 2006 which sought that competition be injected into our predatory legal fees system? Access to the courts is available only to the very wealthy.