Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I do not oppose the Order of Business. I asked the Leader yesterday if she is prepared to provide time for Opposition business tomorrow, given that the House is not scheduled to meet, and I repeat that request today. The Government is not proposing any items for tomorrow's business, but the Opposition has at least 14 separate items on the Order Paper. It would be appropriate that time should be set aside for Opposition business tomorrow if the Government cannot produce business of its own. I ask the Leader to comment on that matter.

I agree with the proposal made yesterday by Senator Brady with regard to suicide. It is important that this issue should be debated. It is one of the biggest killers of young men in Ireland and I agree with the Senator that there is an urgent need for the House to debate the progress, if any, being made by the various Departments involved. I urge the Leader to organise a debate on this issue.

The Leader is aware that when the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998 there were implicit commitments, North and South of the Border, regarding human rights legislation. The legislation in Northern Ireland was passed four years ago, but, some five years after the Agreement was signed, we in the South still have to put in place a new regime for human rights. I am aware that the Government proposed the European Convention on Human Rights Bill 2001, but that has still to be passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas.

Will the Leader endeavour to discover where is the Bill in question and what are the remaining difficulties which prevent the Government enacting it swiftly? We cannot lecture other states about their need for human rights legislation when there is no change to our legislation. This was an implicit commitment to all citizens, North and South. However, that commitment has not been put in place in the South during the past five years, which is ridiculous.