Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

I will leave it to the other Senators to decide. It is a question of discipline rather than anything else.

However, in the spirit of goodwill at Christmas, I must remind all fair-minded Senators that the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney, came to the House on two occasions and made outstanding contributions. She did not need anything written down for her. She had it all at the tips of her fingers and had a hands-on approach. I have seen politicians on all sides, not just from one political party, whose images are completely different from their personalities when they are at their desks and doing their jobs, whether Minister or Taoiseach. I have every confidence in Deputy Harney in her portfolio and I wish her well. Her two outstanding contributions in this House within weeks of each other and under very difficult circumstances were admired by Senators on all sides of the House.

Senators Buttimer and Walsh spoke about school capitation grants and water charges. I will set aside time for a debate on education in the next session. Senators Ellis and Ó Murchú called for an urgent debate on local radio and the abuses that are occurring at present. Those of us who fought so long and hard in this House for the legalisation of local radio are extremely disappointed that agencies outside the State will now control the local airwaves. That was never intended when the Oireachtas enabled the establishment of local radio. We set it up to provide local content to communities. The danger is that it will drift even further. The big advantage of local radio is that it serves local communities. I will arrange to have this debate in the first or second week after the Christmas recess.

Senators Regan and Walsh expressed their views on Ireland and the UK finding themselves outside certain European agreements, and the effect of this in terms of fighting crime. I will see what the Minister has to say about this and I hope to contact the Senators directly with this information. Senator Regan also mentioned the portfolio of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the matter of drug use by people driving motor vehicles, whether private or commercial. There is a difficulty with detection, as we found in our investigation of the insurance industry during the last session. We may be able to adopt best practice from New Zealand or America, where this difficulty has been overcome. Perhaps the Senator has some knowledge in this regard. I have no difficulty in allowing a debate on this issue and I will pass on the views of Senators to the Minister.

Thirteen Senators met in my office last week to discuss an all-party motion on drug abuse and particularly the serious abuse of cocaine that is going on at present. This could be highlighted in the contributions of Senators on the motion. We will allow all Senators to make a contribution on this serious challenge for the Government and for society. Senators are pushing an open door in this regard. We will do anything we can to assist in dealing with the challenge of drug abuse.

Senator Glynn called for a debate on car insurance. I will set aside time for this. There are many abuses occurring in this area. Senator Bacik asked for an update on the situation regarding Íngrid Betancourt. There will be a motion on this matter on the Order Paper before Thursday.