Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I second the motion and I congratulate Senator Terry on her comprehensive argument to the House on this prisoner welfare issue. I welcome the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to the House and I thank him for being present, given his onerous responsibilities relating to meetings in Northern Ireland in the past 48 hours. I wish him and his Government colleagues well in that matter.

This motion is straightforward and does not need to be debated for two hours. The truth is that all political parties and all Governments have engaged in this abuse since 1925. I ask that all colleagues on both sides of the House address this reality. I want to quote from a recent article by Dr. Garret FitzGerald, a former Taoiseach and leader of my party:

In my view there is also a possible problem relating to abuses of expense claims, including the appointment of political supporters to various bodies, for instance, to prison visiting committees far away from where these appointees live. Through this process such supporters may be enabled to claim unvouched standard subsistence and travel amounts which may be substantially in excess of their actual disbursements.

He was referring in the article to the issue of standards in public life. This issue has not been dealt with by any Government in recent years, including my own party.