Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

He made a promise that it would be brought forward. We now have three Private Members' matters to address when we return.

Senator Mooney referred to the situation involving prison officers. I received correspondence from Loughan House, where 99% of officers voted in favour of the Minister's proposals. A small percentage will wreck the homes and careers of many prison officers. The Senator also referred to the public service remit of RTE and the opinion of TV3 that the remit should not be a high priority.

Senator Henry raised the issue of Ethiopia. Senator MacSharry commented on the imprisoned people from County Mayo. He wants direct intervention with Shell and Bord Gáis, which bypasses the part of the north west that owns the gas reserves.

Senator Terry remarked on the 3 million litres of water which are leaking from National Aquatic Centre and called for an independent engineer's report. Senator Quinn discussed the AA and speed cameras in the UK. He asked why could they not be pinpointed on a map here. He proposed the novel solution developed in Budapest. I will not comment further on that because it is laughable. I hope that everybody on display is perfectly formed. They would slow traffic.

Senator Ulick Burke noted the far-reaching proposal that third level funding be matched to output, which would reduce the independence of third level colleges. Senator Ross asked why we do not hold ideological debates and what would be wrong in so doing. Senator Bradford commented on Ethiopia.