Maurice Hayes (Independent)

With the indulgence of the Cathaoirleach, I remind the House that today is the 85th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Great War, in which so many Irish people of all traditions, North and South, died. We should remember the Irish people who died in all wars and conflicts, ponder the futility of conflict and commit ourselves to peace. Will the Leader inform us if it is possible to have a debate on the wider peacekeeping activities of the Irish security forces? We are entitled to be proud of them and celebrate their achievements.

On hospitals, I have immediate sympathy with the concern of Senator Brian Hayes. I wonder if it is particularly wise to take accident and emergency services out of the broader perspective. It is a question of stanching the inward flow and making more space rather than providing additional capacity.

We have enough appalling Euro jargon on the Order Paper, such as "full decoupling", and it is absolutely barbaric to see it translated into the first national language as "díchúpláil iomlán". Will the Leader ask the translation department whether it is possible to find an existing, sensible Irish word which fulfils the meaning without translating European neologisms?