David Norris (Independent)

I support what Senator Brian Hayes said. It came as a surprise to me to hear there was this side deal. It is insulting to this House that it was done without reference to the House. Can the Cathaoirleach or the Leader indicate to the House whether they had prior knowledge of this wheeling and dealing with Seanad seats? It worries me particularly because I referred last week to the IRA demands for the release of bank robbers who were involved in something that could not be excused by a political fig leaf and were defining themselves within an ethos of criminality. Are we going to have criminals — ordinary, not decent criminals — parachuted into this House?

I note the IRA also balked at a phrase which indicated it would not continue with paramilitary beatings and so on. This is very worrying. If there is going to be a cessation, we demand an entire cessation. It is not tolerable that people would continue knee-capping, beating and exiling people, and, on the fringes, get involved in drug running. I support a call for a full and open debate. At this stage the Government should make clear to us the full terms of any agreement that was being negotiated.

I also call for a debate on Iraq and the Middle East. This morning we heard on the radio the report of the head of the Iraqi Red Crescent who was at last allowed into Falluja. There were no families visible. Many houses that were still extant had white flags on them. A potato barn full of bodies was discovered. I asked yesterday that the Leader would request the Government to ask for a full statement from the occupying forces on the condition of the civilian population in Falluja. We are entitled to that statement.

Finally, could I draw the attention of the House to the very worrying report on bullying in today's Irish Independent? It highlights the bullying of gay students. It is taken so seriously by that newspaper that there is an editorial on it which states that a survey of school teachers found that 94% of teachers in boys schools have witnessed bullying of homosexuals while the equivalent figure for girls is 55%. Some 87% of teachers who had witnessed bullying of homosexuals saw more than one such incident in a school year.

I contribute to a charity in central Africa and I received from it the biography of a remarkable young Irish doctor, Dr. Mike Meegan. In an aside half-way through the book he told the story of somebody who worked with him in the past — whom I think is also a doctor — who was bullied so severely in a suburban Dublin secondary school where he had the word "fag" carved with a knife on his back, that he attempted to commit suicide. We have dealt in this House with the issue of suicide. We know there is a high rate of suicide among young males. The House should also take into account the fact that there is a seven times multiplier when those young people happen to be of a homosexual orientation. This is a report we should take very seriously.

More than half those schools do not use any teaching material, even though it is provided in various books, regarding sexual identity and sexual orientation. This is necessary in the interests of the welfare of the young people in schools.