Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

I know but how could one fill two hours on the spiking of drinks? I will try to schedule a drink-related debate and include that issue.

Senator Coghlan does not agree with café bars, as he prefers the full blooded variety. However, the legislation on them was fully debated.

Senator Mansergh raised the issue of transporting bulk products by rail. I agree it would be better than heavy trucks transporting products such as beet in front of cars on the road. He stated there are objectors to the modifications of the southside DART stations. Imagine objecting to something which will do so much good if the service operates better. He also referred to the western rail corridor and the rail link between Limerick and Ennis. He invoked Percy French, which was very good.

Senator Norris sought a questions and answers session on the plans for performance-related funding of third level institutions and wondered about the innovation fund. He raised the closure of the Coolock community law centre. I put a question mark beside this when I took my note on it because I do not know how correct is the Senator's assumption. He also referred to No. 19, motion 6 regarding overseas development aid. We will seek to have the Minister attend. He was at this afternoon's meeting of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, and it is too bad they persist in holding the meeting at a time when we can stay only for five minutes. It had promised to be quite a lively debate, but Senator Norris and I had to leave.

Senator Maurice Hayes called for a debate on suicide, echoing Senator Glynn, and higher education. He also raised the EU directive that butchers may send only to the end consumer, that is, the purchaser, and asked if this is being interpreted correctly. Senator Cummins spoke on the task force recommendations on drink. I believe the recommendations were misunderstood.

The issue of according special status to the killers of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe was also raised. I will raise that directly with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell.

Senator Moylan called for a debate on suicide and what the county coroner said in Offaly yesterday. He echoed what Senator Mansergh had said about beet growers and traffic on the roads. Senator Henry said that the institutes of technology were not mentioned in the piece we saw in the newspaper. However, I am sure we saw only a snippet of the whole. Some excellent work is being done; yesterday the Tánaiste was in Athlone at the new nursing school, which is a credit and absolutely wonderful. The Senator also asked why, if Defence Forces personnel were fit to lie in the beds in St. Bricin's, others could not do the same; I do not understand that either — perhaps it simply needs a lick of paint.

Senator Ulick Burke raised the demise of arts and the humanities. I would not like to see the innovation fund set everyone scrambling to be the best class in town, with what might be seen as the more workaday disciplines of the arts and humanities not followed up. Perhaps the Minister should intervene.