John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I support Senator Finucane's request that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform come into the House to explain his proposed reforms of the Garda. As Senator Ulick Burke indicated, there are huge problems with law and order in rural as well as urban areas. Over a number of years we have seen the continuous decline in the number of manned rural Garda stations. Any proposal to decrease that number further should be seriously discussed in this House. I urge the Minister to come to the House to discuss the proposed reforms.

I raised the possibility of a debate on the arts a couple of weeks ago. It has not appeared on either the Order of Business for last week or the schedule for this week. I urge the Leader to find time, if possible, to have such a debate in the next couple of weeks. We have not had a debate on the arts in the Seanad so far, so we should have one as soon as possible.