Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I do not recall a debate in the House in the past five years on horticulture or the production of fruit and vegetables. On Senator O'Toole's point, I was shocked that a fine head of Savoy cabbage would fetch only 40 cent from a supermarket. If the argument is that this is what the consumer wants, many people go around supermarket shelves looking for fruit and vegetables that could be grown in this climate, but fail to find them. This needs to be addressed because it makes no energy or environmental sense to bring bulky products from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away.

On a related point, I believe I am not alone in being disturbed at what seems to be a ruling by the Competition Authority which prevents a professional organisation, the Irish Pharmaceutical Union, from negotiating with the HSE. This House is founded on vocational principles. We have social partnership, which has worked very well for the past 20 years and is responsible for much of our prosperity. We do not necessarily want a totally atomised neo-liberal world where people of like interests cannot come together to negotiate. That matter should be addressed.

I should like to come to the defence of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who was criticised by a bien pensant commentator this morning. I believe we all agree that legislation to do with civil unions is a very serious piece of endeavour. However, if there is doubt, as there is because of a Supreme Court case, about what the present position is legally and constitutionally, then of course one waits for the Supreme Court to establish the position before deciding exactly on the changes one will make.