John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

If it wishes to raise it, so be it. I welcome the opportunity to have such a debate. We, as public representatives, have a duty to represent the views of the people who gave us the privilege of sitting in this House. If there is a strong sense of feeling about particular issues, it would be remiss of us not to highlight those issues in this House, if for no other reason than to bring them to the attention of the relevant governing bodies.

I do not propose to interfere in the internal workings of the IRFU and I fully accept that that is not our business, but I will accept the right of any public representative to represent the views of their electorate. If we were to follow Senator Ryan's line of argument, we would be betraying our moral responsibilities as public representatives in not highlighting those issues. Therefore I fundamentally disagree with Senator Ryan's train of thought. If he were here in the House – he has left having given us a diatribe for a few minutes – I would suggest to him that we will note with interest the issues he raises on the Order of Business and in Private Members' time in the future and we will equally judge their suitability.