Alex White (Labour)

I strongly agree with what Senator Norris said and indicate to this House that my party, having raised the matter in the other one yesterday, will not flinch or pull back from raising it again. It will seek the maximum level of rights under our Constitution for gay people in this State. What Senator Norris said was absolutely right and he was, as always, eloquent and to the point. This is not a matter which my party will set aside or allow to fall by the wayside. We will press for those rights to be introduced next year if the Government does what it promised yesterday.

I echo what Senator Fitzgerald said about the urgency for a debate on child care. We constantly call for debates and for Ministers to come to the House. That is the way business operates in this House and I do not object to it. However, will the Leader give this matter the maximum priority in the next week? These rule changes have a serious effect, as has been outlined by Senator Fitzgerald and others in recent days. They require scrutiny and debate. I ask the Leader to give this the maximum priority in the next week or so, and I ask that the Minister come to the House to deal with this urgent matter.

Yesterday I found myself in the somewhat alarming position of agreeing with the Deputy Leader on a matter he raised in the House some weeks ago. I have become afflicted with this condition of agreeing with some Members on the Government side. I now find myself in some agreement with the Leader. I notice he was interviewed by Hot Press in the past day or two. It is reported in today's newspapers. He said something which was quite eloquent about alcohol abuse. He said drink has taken over and that one cannot compete with it. That is what he said about social activities and the sort of country this has become.

Yesterday I heard Senator Fiona O'Malley enthuse about the ESRI report on the Celtic tiger. I got very excited about it but we need to be equally exercised by the sort of country we have created in the past ten years. We cannot allow ourselves to think we can define or characterise our success by the number of cranes on the skyline, as has often been suggested by politicians, particularly by those in Government. We have created a society in which there were 1,775 alcohol related deaths between 1995 and 2004. The report of the Health Research Board has demonstrated that overall alcohol consumption in this country is up by 17%. It pointed to the escalating pressures on health and hospital services with people being admitted with alcohol related problems and injuries. This House has a role to play in this regard. Surely it can devise imaginative approaches to address this serious issue.

I will briefly mention a constituency I know, having canvassed in it. People said there were no facilities for young people other than pubs. I see that with my daughter's generation. Drink punctuates everything in our society, including social and sporting activities. When I was growing up there were the all-Ireland football and hurling finals. Now there is the Guinness all-Ireland hurling final. It is time that organisations such as the GAA were taken to task about the manner in which they celebrate the drink culture in this society, whether unwittingly or otherwise.