Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

It was an alarming statement. This is a virulent strain and it should be monitored. It is, as Senator Henry pointed out, about more than washing our hands as often as possible, although cleanliness is part of it. This week and next week we must deal with legislation, as was the case last week. We have a mountain of it. We will note this, however, and the Minister had promised to come to the House after Christmas.

Senator O'Toole called for a debate on the Irish language, with the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs coming to the House to outline developments. He also mentioned the issue he has made his own, namely, mandatory sentencing, and asked why the Judiciary was not putting in place life sentences. The Senator pointed out that the situation had arisen because politicians were interfering. He also mentioned the salutary report from former Senator Maurice Manning and called for a debate on it.

Senator McCarthy said that people are afraid to go to hospital because of MRSA. That is true and we have all heard people saying they will not go to hospital when they are ill. The hospital in Mallow, the Senator's own area, received the top award for the second year running for a low instance of MRSA. The Senator also mentioned avian influenza, noting how we are coping with that but MRSA, another virulent bug, cannot be combated.

Senator Leyden also called for action on MRSA. He also raised the price of petrol in a particular service station, which charges 40 cent more than everyone else. It must not want any business, which I find very odd, because we all hunt for petrol at 96 cent and 97 cent a litre and usually we get it. Every petrol station is doing well because the price of oil is falling.

Senator Ulick Burke mentioned the pupil-teacher ratio. Does life ever change? This was an issue at the start of my political life.