David Norris (Independent)

I ask for a debate and ask the Leader to establish a cross-party committee, as they have in the British House of Commons because of concerns that their people are implicated in this filth. That aeroplane is a pariah and should not be permitted in Irish airspace.

I support Senator O'Toole and am grateful to him for raising the subject of gay priests and the Vatican. It must be viewed in the context of our own responsibilities. We permitted the churches to get away with an exemption from the operation of equality law. They have shown themselves to be unfit. If we are responsible to the citizens of this country, including gay citizens, we must re-examine that exemption. A moving article in today's edition of the Irish Independent told how a lovely young man in Donegal killed himself because of this situation. His sister, to whom I pay tribute, gave interviews on radio and in the press in which she laid the responsibility at our door because there is no educational programme in this area.