Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I wish to raise the same issue as that raised by the previous two speakers. The Supreme Court judgment was a well-deserved rebuke for the way this issue was handled all along. It raises a number of issues, not least the property rights of pensioners, a vulnerable group in society who had money taken from them illegally. We all know the advice that was available to the Government and what happened.

This is a lesson in terms of how the Oireachtas does its business and what happens when legislation is rushed, does not get the necessary time for debate and the public do not have an opportunity to make observations. As Senator O'Toole mentioned, how does the Government propose to pay back the €500 million to those who had money sequestered from them? They have been treated in a shabby manner and there is a question mark over the legal advice that was given to some of the Sir Humphreys. The Tánaiste said there was gross mismanagement at senior levels. Why did someone at a senior level in the Department refuse to pass on the legal advice to the Minister of the day? That is unforgivable and lessons must be learned from this sorry saga.

Which is scarier, the fact there are 30 kg of plutonium missing from the nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield or the fact that this is not unusual? We know the record of the British on this issue and that it is a long-standing objective of the Irish Government to close the plant. This issue is not so minor as to be referred to as an embarrassment to the British Government. It is a gross international scandal and it reopens the debate about the threat this plant poses to Irish security. I would welcome a statement from the Minister in this regard.