Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

Senators Harris, Walsh and O'Donovan expressed serious concerns about the tribunals of inquiry. Many eminent Senators involved in the legal profession made their views known. I will ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to come to the House because if only wealthy people can be elected to councils on the basis of the enormous amounts they are prepared to spend, that might be unhealthy. We do not want that to happen. That issue must be taken up as a matter of urgency and I will endeavour to invite the Minister to the House. All sections of our community and all strands of our society should have an opportunity to be elected. We must not go down the road of another nation where one cannot become a member of a local council unless one has deep pockets. Our forefathers never intended that to happen here when they drafted the legislation more than 100 years ago.

Senator Ross called for a debate on the European treaty and he raised an important issue. The 12.5% corporation tax rate is of the utmost importance to the future of our economy and it is the main attraction for multinationals that have made Ireland the headquarters of their European operations. I will have the Minister in the House as soon as possible to debate this.

Senator Kelly sought an update on telecommunications services, e-business and Enterprise Ireland. I compliment Enterprise Ireland and Frank Ryan, its chief executive, for all they have done on job creation, with 60,000 new jobs being added annually in recent years. A total of 600,000 jobs have been created over the past ten years, which is an incredible achievement, and I have no difficulty asking the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to come to the House to update Senators on where Ireland Plc is headed over the next ten years and to hear the views of Senators.

Senators O'Domhnaill and Doherty called on the Minister for Foreign Affairs to come to the House for a debate on the undocumented Irish and I have no problem arranging this. Senator Doherty made an excellent proposal regarding the teams competing in the Olympic Games in London in 2012 whereby Ireland could be used as a training base for many of our friendly nations. As Ireland is a friendly nation, this would be an ideal opportunity for this to happen. I have no difficulty scheduling a debate on that.

I thank and congratulate the many Senators who participated in the road safety debate yesterday, which had to be extended. Like us all, the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Pat The Cope Gallagher, will be shocked by the latest road fatality in Donegal. I am sure he will help Senator Doherty regarding the difficulty faced by Donegal County Council with roads.

Senator O'Donovan called for debates on the fishing and agriculture industries, to which I will refer shortly. Senator Buttimer referred to the GPA-GAA dispute again. We have expressed our views on this throughout the week. Common sense must prevail but the Gaelic Athletic Association's contribution to Ireland has been immense. I am heavily involved in hurling in Castlepollard, north Westmeath, and the GAA is the only club that cared about young boys and girls through the generations. It is nice to see the students of Castlepollard Community College in the Visitors' Gallery. Their arrival during the Order of Business was very timely.