Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I am a little disappointed with the Minister's response because he seems to have tried to justify some of the comments last week and maybe he has missed some of the points. Nobody has said these people do not have the right to express their opinions. The issue is that other people have the right to call it by its proper name and challenge that without being censored. In his statement the Minister said it would be a matter of serious concern if recourse to our defamation laws was to have a chilling effect on public debate. We are saying it is a matter of serious concern that this issue has happened and that there will be consequences unless we take action.

I do not know if the Minister saw the Channel 4 programme broadcast last night which linked an increase in violent attacks on gay people in Russia with the Russian government's treatment of gay people and its explicit homophobia. These actions have consequences and for the likes of Brendan O'Connor to turn around to somebody in his audience last week who told him about being beaten up for being gay and say that is real homophobia is ridiculous. RTE needs to be independent and balanced and the best thing the Minister could do to take society forward on this would be to ask the Department of Education and Skills to make it mandatory that all schools would be allowed to listen to Miss Panti Bliss's speech at "The Risen People". Society would be far better if people were to hear that.

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