Michael McCarthy (Labour)

This is a very sensitive area and has only become controversial over the last number of years, for a plethora of reasons. The timing of this referendum is important. The Government has announced its intention to hold it on 11 June, but I am strongly of the opinion that it should not be held on the same day as the local and European elections, for a number of reasons. Those who turn out to vote will be more engaged with issues that normally arise during local or European elections. The poll provides an opportunity for some bad-minded people to use the issue of race, which applies to a category of people who are generally worse off than others, for electoral gain.

Senator Minihan spoke eloquently and passionately about what happened in Cork North Central two years ago. Research was done, as it was in most areas, and according to this research, one candidate was at the bottom of the list. This generally suggests defeat. However one construes it, his exploitation of a certain issue led that candidate to head the poll. We all know who I am talking about. That person blatantly took advantage of the position of asylum seekers and passed unforgivable remarks about people who are less well off than others for a variety of reasons. That person was returned to Dáil Éireann and subsequently rewarded by the leader of his party with the chairmanship of a Dáil committee. That was not dealing with the matter. It was anything but doing so. If the Government had been made up of the Labour Party, Fine Gael and the Green Party and if swift action had not been taken to dismiss a person who made comments such as these, Fianna Fáil members would be the first to start jumping up and down about it. Nothing was done about this Deputy.