Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

Senator Quinn referred to the need to reform legislation relating to charities, collections and so on. Various Governments have talked about this and various documents have been published. There was an effort to reform this legislation in 1997 but it did not come to anything. It should be done because, while somebody may legitimately represent a charity and conduct collections, one wonders sometimes what it is about, where the money is going and whether the collections are regulated. They should be properly regulated rather than adopting regulations that are a nuisance to people. I will endeavour to speak to the Minister for Finance or the Minister for Social and Family Affairs about this.

Senator Coonan mentioned the health crisis and sought a debate on the mid-west. The Cathaoirleach said that would be suitable for an Adjournment debate if the Senator had a particular case in mind.