Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I have suggested over the past few weeks that the House should not adjourn for the Easter recess until we have had a debate on the current situation in the Northern Ireland peace process. While I fully appreciate that the Taoiseach is out of the country representing us in Athens today and, though I would not in any way wish to make the situation more difficult by asking a Minister to attend the House to contribute, given the sensitivities involved, I suggest to the Leader that the House discuss the matter in a short debate at some stage today, perhaps over 40 minutes or an hour. That would allow colleagues to put their views on the record.

I say that because, as the Leader well knows, there is a spirit of co-operation and support on all sides of the House for the two Governments' efforts as they try to cajole all the Northern Ireland parties to work the situation out. Members of the House would make a very good contribution to that process. I do not want to pressure the Government to say anything more than it has already. My proposal is therefore for the House itself to debate the matter, and I would be interested to hear the Leader's response.

An unrelated matter raised by many colleagues on all sides of the House is the dramatic escalation in the spread of the SARS virus in many parts of the world, particularly south-east Asia. I know that the Leader has been in contact with the Minister for Health and other Departments about the serious matter raised on the floor of the House. I suggest that, over Easter, she put another idea to the Minister for Health, namely, that he arrange for a full risk assessment of continuing with the Special Olympics, particularly regarding south-east Asian countries. That risk assessment could involve the Department of Health and Children, the Special Olympics organising committee, the World Health Organisation and others. This disease spreads rapidly through travel and we are all at risk where we are exposed, in the absence of proper quarantine controls, to people travelling here from south-east Asia. Australia has, in the past 48 hours, begun to quarantine people travelling there from south-east Asia in order to ensure that the disease does not take hold.

A full risk assessment of, at the very least, representatives from those countries in south-east Asia that are sending delegations to the Special Olympics should be put in place. As Senator Finucane stated yesterday, there is a great deal of concern among many of the towns hosting the delegations from that part of the world. A full scale risk assessment would be helpful and perhaps in the first week after the Easter recess the House could hear the response of the Minister for Health and Children to it.