Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I understand Senator Quinn will give the House an opportunity to discuss that matter on Private Members' business next week.

I raised a related matter in the House on a number of occasions, namely, the question of where we stand on renewable energy. A man who was far too bright to be retained in the public service, Eddie O'Connor, has put forward a clear proposal for a linked series of windfarms from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. It is the most creative and progressive proposal to deal with wind energy I have seen. Using more than the regular 150 km or 200 km length of typical weatherfront would provide us with a constant stream of energy, as there would be wind on one end if there was none on the other. Storms in the Baltic might be creating energy while there was no wind in the Mediterranean. Linking them and Ireland would deal with the issue of the non-uniformity of wind energy.

Will the Government explain where it stands on the EU's consideration of Airtricity's proposal? It is far too progressive, creative and imaginative for Europe to jump on, but I hope the Government will recognise that the man who could have turned Bord na Móna around but was sacked by the State more than ten years ago for invalid reasons has a significant contribution to make to the matters raised by Senators Brian Hayes and Quinn.

A matter that has been often raised, including by Mr. Maurice Manning, the former leader of Fine Gael in the House, Senator Brian Hayes and the Leader, is the press council and actions against the press. A story culminated yesterday. Two years ago, the story of a County Roscommon footballer allegedly playing snooker in the nude gave the country a laugh but undoubtedly damaged his business. He has needed to wait two years to prove his case, to the incalculable damage to his business, his family and himself. He endured much pressure before The Sun conceded it was wrong and paid him a significant amount of money.

Will the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform inform the House where the State stands on defamation laws and all that relates to them? This matter raises the question of whether there is a case for having an investigatory group within the press council to whom a person could bring a grievance against the media. It could make the case to the newspaper in question after concluding something was an unfair comment. Most people are afraid to go to court due to the costs, pressure and descriptive prose that will subsequently appear in the media. We need to make it easy for people to find justice.

A number of days ago, a mobile telephone interrupted while I was speaking. I made it clear to the Leas-Chathaoirleach that the telephone was not mine, but it was. I found out that it had a fault. I apologise to the House.