Michael McCarthy (Labour)

It is ten years since the genocide in Rwanda that claimed 800,000 lives. This was the worst case of genocide since the Second World War. The international community, through the United Nations, failed abjectly to help the people of that Central African country. Will the House observe the one-minute silence at noon today, as requested by the UN? The UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, has asked as many countries as possible to participate in that minute of silence as a mark of respect to all those who lost their lives so brutally and needlessly in Rwanda. It was a horrible incident in world history.

Before the last general election we witnessed a high profile outburst of racist remarks from a candidate who went on to win a seat and was appointed chairman of a Dáil committee. If the race card is going to be played by Government candidates in the forthcoming elections, will those candidates be rewarded by the Taoiseach after the elections?