Maurice Hayes (Independent)

I would like to support Senator Quinn's call for a discussion at some stage on charities legislation. It is time something was done about that. It is long overdue. The Senator is right to pinpoint the people on the streets with boards who are paid and make money from this.

I also support the proposal of a debate on Northern Ireland before Christmas. We will know the result of the election by tomorrow but it is optimistic to think that we will know the outcome. That will take some months. I support Senator O'Toole's remarks about the house in Dingle.

My view of the religious orders is similar to that of Senator Ó Murchú. I was educated by a religious order and I worked for one. I have enormous respect for the work the orders have done. At the same time, to assert that the Taoiseach should apologise personally every time a case is overturned on appeal is to trivialise both the office of the Taoiseach and the legal system. We should not ask him to do it.