David Norris (Independent)

I support Senator Harris's point. It is obvious, and I have said it many times, we should play to our strengths. It is nonsense to say our hands are tied by the CPP. The CPP is supposed to represent the views of the elected Members. On this issue it clearly does not. When Senator Harris spoke a murmur of agreement passed across the Chamber so let us have some action. Last session I mounted a long campaign and eventually squeezed a measly ten minutes extra for the Order of Business but we are still in trouble. Senator Harris is right, we should play to our strengths.

I share Senator Fitzgerald's concerns and am glad she raised this question of child trafficking. As a result of this morning's disclosures we know that 320 children, many from African countries, entrusted to the care of the HSE in care facilities have gone missing. Two of them, teenage girls, turned up in brothels. That is an astonishing to have happened.

I welcome the establishment of the committees. It was high time they were established. I am glad my colleagues have put me again on the Committee on Foreign Affairs. I call for a debate on the situation in Cuba particularly in light of the extraordinary attack by President George W. Bush in the last 24 hours. He is man of extraordinary effrontery and a stranger to truth. He unexpectedly and unwittingly hit a correct note when he said there was a gulag on Cuba. There is, and he should know because he is its proprietor. It is called Guantanamo Bay. The United States harbours terrorists, including a terrorist who blew up a civilian aircraft in Cuban airspace, and arrested the agents who are trying to protect civilians against that.