Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

The Leader of the Opposition, Senator Brian Hayes, welcomed the President's recent decision. He raised the matter of the tsunami disaster and the House could benefit from a thorough debate on that subject. It is less a question of who gave what so much as what is going to happen to the relief funds raised. I will seek to put this in train.

The Leader of the Opposition also raised the issue of Northern Ireland. It is good that the scales have fallen from everyone's eyes regarding this issue. Future events will take place in a much more realistic manner. The challenge remains to keep the peace process intact and to have a movement towards final peace. The Taoiseach has recommitted himself and the Government to that challenge.

Senator Brian Hayes spoke about the interesting solutions suggested by the SDLP and wanted to debate them in this House. He also spoke about the €1.3 billion which is allegedly owed by the Revenue to taxpayers. An attempt is now being made to issue the money without taxpayers even requesting it. Every taxpayer should request the money if he or she has to do so, but I noted that Senator O'Toole was very vociferous on that matter on television and that Senator Brian Hayes's own party had raised the issue as well. Senator Brian Hayes said the same enthusiasm should be shown in the repayment as is showed in the collection.

Senator O'Toole spoke about the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service. He also raised the issue surrounding the extraordinary witch-hunt against a particular member of the Government about aspects of his life which have nothing to do with legislation. I do not think journalism was well served by that particular issue. Are all our lives to be made public? It was quite extraordinary that both legally single people were to have their lives examined in that fashion. It had nothing to do with the issue and the Senator did well to raise the matter.

Senator Ryan called for a debate on the tsunami and sought a reassurance that any money pledged is not from an existing budget but constitutes additional money. That was the general impression but we need clarification of the matter. He also asked about Northern Ireland and my position remains the same. We will ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs to come in and talk about the matter.

Senator Ryan also asked for the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to come before the House to speak about An Post. Senator Mooney also spoke about the tsunami and on Northern Ireland. He also made an interesting point about Auschwitz and what happened 60 years ago. What we see on television and read in the newspapers brings the horrific nature of what happened before us. There was a co-ordinated campaign to get rid of people.

Senator Finucane talked about the Taoiseach. It is easy in hindsight to have all the knowledge but it is not so easy at the time. That is the point the Taoiseach made yesterday. Hindsight is a great giver of knowledge.