Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to be part of this debate and to listen to the views of so many people. I acknowledge the work of many individuals who are Members of the Seanad, in particular, the Leader of the House, Senator O'Rourke, who did trojan work with her counterpart, Sir Reg Empey, on the issue of gas interconnection and an all-island gas energy market and, indeed, Senator Mansergh who, as others have acknowledged, has played a pivotal role in the peace process. I will refer to Senator Hayes in due course but I will try to be brief.

One of the areas in which I am involved in my new Ministry is human rights. I might briefly refer to it because it is a key area with regard to the Good Friday Agreement. Under Strand Three, I would remind the Houses, the parties expressly "affirm their commitment to the mutual respect, the civil rights and the religious liberties of everyone in the community". The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, established under the Agreement, has been engaged in important work since its foundation, including valuable consultation and advice on the scope for a draft bill of rights for Northern Ireland. It is a key objective which we should all pursue. If I can help in this area, I certainly will.

Progress is continuing towards the enhancement of a human rights culture throughout the island. I was very pleased that the work of the human rights commission was reviewed at the meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference only yesterday.

Human rights is also at the heart of the vision for the new policing service in Northern Ireland. That vision was provided for in the Agreement and was given full expression in the Patten report. This document provided a comprehensive blueprint for far-reaching change to policing in Northern Ireland. From the vantage point of the future, the Patten report will be identified as one of the core milestones on the road to peace in Northern Ireland. Indeed, from an international perspective, Patten is already one of the seminal documents for change management in policing.

This House and all of us are very proud of the key role which one of its Members, Senator Maurice Hayes, played in the preparation of the Patten report, and I want to acknowledge that role.