David Norris (Independent)

I concur with Senator Kitt. I raised this matter several times and I mentioned that particular gentleman last week. He has been given permission for further hostel developments even though he placed lives in danger and was served with a fire notice, which he ignored by appealing it.

I also support what Senator Brian Hayes stated on the attacks on the Jewish community. I have been critical of certain aspects of Israeli policy but that is legitimate criticism of a Government with which many Israeli and Jewish people concur. There is absolutely no excuse for these shameful attacks. It would be a good idea if the remarks passed in this House were sent to the Chief Rabbi. I attended a wonderful ceremony in Belvedere College a few weeks ago to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Belsen, where three Irish Jewish survivors of Belsen and Auschwitz were also in attendance. How can we hold our heads up when swastikas are daubed on the Jewish Museum on Walworth Road? I condemn this. We should continue to have such ceremonies because young people do not know the horrors that went on during the Second World War.

I share the concerns expressed by the Labour Party about decentralisation, in particular the addition of inappropriate movements to the coercion that is now involved. There is no central supervision on costs and there is no cost benefit analysis. The unions asked for an independent analysis and independent costing but this has never been done. This will be another example of wasting public money. That leads to the question of the fiasco in Kilkenny where a project to deal with flooding was costed at £8 million, equivalent to €13 million, but is now costing €48 million and the designers did not even get the salmon run correct. It is absolutely mad. There seems to be no control over the way money is spent.

Senator Ross raised the issue of toll roads. We are being walked into a further development of these which will not be to the benefit of the taxpayers. Finally, I ask——