Rónán Mullen (Independent)

I will second Senator Norris's amendment to the Order of Business because like him, I agree that we should be discussing the Defamation Bill on Second Stage and not on Committee Stage. I greatly regret, despite all the lip service that is paid to the quality of the debate in the Seanad Chamber, that in many ways, Members are being frustrated from considering issues in the way they might.

It is worth noting, as I have just noted to Senator Quinn, that 35 of the Members of this House are new, of whom 25 are complete first-timers. I would have thought that on an important issue such as the role of the media in our society and the precise balance to be struck between the individual right to a good name and the media's right to self-expression or to express its views, that Members should have a thorough debate. That would involve discussing this Bill on Second Stage.

I wish to mention briefly the proposed debate on the European Union reform treaty. I hope we will have a debate on this matter soon. I note there was much concern in the media some weeks back that all manner of interesting flora and fauna from Europe such as Jean-Marie Le Pen would visit this country to oppose the treaty.

It seems plenty of people are lining up in the propaganda war to pre-empt the discussion we need to have. I refer to the European Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, who said the other day Ireland would be the laughing stock of Europe if its citizens rejected next year's European Union treaty. Without prejudice to my views on the treaty, which I have not yet expressed in this House——