Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I echo the welcoming comments to the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy. I am particularly pleased that he is here as Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs. He has graced this House with his presence on many occasions through the years in various portfolios and I have every confidence he will continue to bring the same efficiency and professionalism to his new job as he has done in the past. I wish him well in that regard.

I also echo the comments of Senator Mansergh who has taken the lead in this debate and of my friend and colleague, Senator Ó Murchú. Why has it taken so long for Ireland to sign up to this bank and why are we being asked to pass this legislation at the 11th hour when it could have been done much earlier? Be that as it may, I am glad it is going through both Houses.

I highlight this, perhaps for a different reason to my two colleagues, and in a sense to pick up the thread of what Senator Daly said about attitudes in Ireland and the Irish political establishment towards European institutions. I have noticed in my membership of this House that there is a perception, not fuelled by successive Administrations I hasten to add, but certainly fuelled by the media, that Irish political participation in European institutions is about junkets, travelling abroad, the glamour of aeroplanes and airports. Inevitably it comes down to how much it costs to stay in a hotel or whether one travels business class or economy.

I do not wish to overemphasise this point and I agree with everything Senator Daly said. He and I are members of the Council of Europe, as is Senator Ormonde, and we have first-hand knowledge of the impact this attitude has on those of us who believe we are doing something positive in the council, in our case, and in the other European institutions which have distinguished Irish members.

Following the recent publication of expenses for both Houses of the Oireachtas I was asked by Matt Cooper on "The Last Word" radio programme if I stayed in a three star or five star hotel and if I travelled economy or business class. That was his question to me on national radio as a member of the Irish delegation to the Council of Europe, despite the fact that in the two years I have been there I presented three separate reports. I could also list the contribution of other Irish members. Not one of those debates has ever been discussed or even reported, not even as much as one line has appeared in the national newspapers about what is done there. Is it at all surprising, as appears to be emerging in the debate, that there is confusion in the minds of the Irish electorate about the Council of Europe, the European Union, the European Parliament, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe? If this Bill does nothing else it takes a small step in the right direction in terms of promoting the Council of Europe.

I see there are young people in the Gallery who are here as part of civics classes where they are learning about State institutions. Perhaps they will go away from their experience in this House and say in reply to being asked what was being debated in the Seanad that we were discussing a Council of Europe institution. It might lead to someone asking a question as to what the council is about, who its members are and if it is the same as the European Parliament? They both meet in Strasbourg although in separate buildings. The European Parliament also meets in Brussels.

The Council of Europe is the oldest of the European institutions. It was set up in 1949 in the immediate aftermath of the ending of fascism and the Nazi scourge in Europe by 14 like-minded countries. I am proud to say Ireland was one of the founding members. It was set up primarily to protect human rights across the European continent to ensure that never again would any girl or boy, man or woman, be subjected to state terror and authoritarianism and that their human rights and dignity would never be violated in future. The European Convention on Human Rights was agreed at that time and still remains as a monument to the far-thinking people and environment of that era.

It is salutary that we should remember the circumstances in which the Council of Europe was set up because the lines have become considerably blurred in recent years and there appears to be an increasing violation of human rights, especially in eastern European countries, many of which emerged out of the dark decades of communism. Belarus is a basket case. It has a dictator, an authoritarian communist, Mr. Lukashenko, who is running his own private fiefdom where the freedom of the media and any attempt to introduce the norms of democracy are constantly flouted. My colleague across the floor, Senator McCarthy, raised the issue of Chernobyl children on the Order of Business. This dictator refuses to allow them to leave the country. This is at the heart of the type of work the Council of Europe does.