Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

Indeed. The matter will come to the surface very quickly, if Members will pardon the pun, when the debate gets up to speed. I am using all the wrong metaphors. Senator O'Toole is stirring the pot early on this issue on behalf of his fellow Senators. I am quite sure that in line with its long tradition of goodwill, acceptance and knitting into the city, Trinity will facilitate the Luas.

Senator O'Toole also raised the matter of class sizes and indicated that 350,000 school children are in classes with too high a pupil-teacher ratio. He called on the Minister for Education and Science to reduce junior class sizes as laid out in the programme for Government. Deputy Hanafin has made a great start on the provision of special needs assistants on which I have heard great compliments. The INTO made a significant input into the decision-making process and I hope it will continue to do so.

Senator O'Meara made the very valid point that there is a mindset which considers transport issues to relate only to Dublin. While one third of the population live here, there is a whole world outside the city. The Senator made particular reference to the mid-west. The Senator suggested we should have two debates and I agree with her. The point was echoed by other speakers. Senator O'Meara was also keen that time be provided for a debate on care of the elderly.

Senator Dooley spoke about transport also and pointed to a tendency among some to attempt to rewrite history when the matter is raised. The Senator asked me to clarify a matter relating to my time as Minister. Not one punt was wasted of the £114 million EU funding to which he referred. We sent a fine civil servant, Mr. John Fearon, to Brussels where he negotiated to allow us to keep the money which was used to replace Dublin's awful, belching buses. It was the first time a member state was able to keep such funding and transfer it to public transport and roads. I intend to obtain a full explanation of the matter. It is highly mischievous for an eminent person to suggest the £114 million had to be returned to Brussels when we kept every single punt in Ireland and invested the money in transport. While I intend to make a separate statement on the matter, I thank Senator Dooley for raising it.

Senator Finucane referred to the €30 million the last Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin, spent on reports. He made the point that there is professionalism within Departments, which I have always found to be true, and suggested we should cop ourselves on and produce reports internally. The Hanly report was mentioned. One cannot have it every way. Whether one attempts to implement the recommendations of reports or fails to do so, one is subjected to negative criticism. One often considers that we must cop ourselves on in every sense.

I thank Senator Norris for his comment. I have always enjoyed hearing his observations on the metro. It appears the metro is back on the agenda which pleases us all. Senator Norris said a false urban-rural divide was being created in the context of transport, but this is not so. The point other Senators sought to make was that another world of transport needs exists outside those of Dublin. Those needs must also be discussed and debated.

Senator McCarthy raised a very interesting point about media ownership, which is of interest to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who has been quite open about discussing it. The Senator also echoed the call for a debate on transport.

Senator Mansergh said there were many positive stories to tell of financial injections in transport and agreed that there was a need for a general debate on the matter.

Senator Bannon referred to water and sewerage schemes and the concerns of local authorities regarding their forthcoming budgets. We can endeavour to secure the attendance of the Minister with responsibility for that area.

Senator Moylan referred to quad bikes on one of which the president of the IFA had a very serious accident. He asked that the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Killeen, be invited to the House to address the matter from a health and safety perspective.

Representing the voice of Trinity College, Senator Ross said he was sure the college would do the right thing. The Senator expressed concern about State boards which appeared to maintain loyalty to a particular Minister rather than to the Government in general. The Senator asked me to arrange for the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, to come to the House to discuss the boards of Aer Rianta and Aer Lingus, which I will attempt to do.

Senator Terry referred to the care of the elderly. "Bed-block" is an utterly distasteful word which people use now. Who wants to stay in hospital? The difficulties seem to lie in the areas of community care, changes of housing, adaptation of domestic dwellings and the various other steps which can be taken to ease people back into a home environment. We will seek the Tánaiste's presence in the House to discuss the matter.

Senator Quinn attended yesterday's launch of the National Safety Council's booklet and campaign on child safety in cars and referred to the poor level of use of children's safety seats.

Senator Browne called for a national holiday on polling days, but I am not sure it would improve turnout. People might take a trip or go shopping instead.