Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

Senators Fitzgerald, O'Toole and Kelly called for an open debate on the activities of the HSE and in particular the three reports to be published over the next 24 hours. I can agree to have this at an early date. I will endeavour to check the Minister's diary to see what can be done to achieve this.

Senators Fitzgerald, Alex White, Norris, Doherty and Keaveney expressed their views on Dr. Ian Paisley and his announcement of his retirement. I agree with the Taoiseach when he says, "I can say with certainty that the leadership he has shown in recent years means that future generations of Irish people, North and South, will live in a peace and prosperity that previous generations could only dream of". I wish him well in his retirement. At the position in Irish history at which we find ourselves we can look forward to living in prosperity and peace. This is what we have all hoped and worked hard for. I have already discussed with the Taoiseach the possibility of a debate on Northern Ireland and he has agreed to attend the House on or near the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. He too played a major part in achieving the Good Friday Agreement on behalf of the Irish people. The Taoiseach will be pleased to be here for a debate on Northern Ireland and in particular the tenth anniversary of the Agreement.

Senators O'Toole, Alex White, Healy Eames, Keaveney and Callely expressed their views on matters pertaining to the Minister for Education and Science, particularly with regard to the debate that took place here last night. They also mentioned autism and the challenges facing those families with children with special needs. I will pass on the views of Senators to the Minister. I have no difficulty with having a wide-ranging debate on this issue after the Easter recess when facilitated by the Minister's diary and the leaders of the parties in the House. I agree with the sentiments expressed. On my first or second day as Leader of the new Seanad I stated that autism was one of my priorities, an urgent issue on which I would like to make progress with the help and assistance of all parties and Senators. I said that we could make our mark with regard to input to the Minister and the Department.

Senators de Búrca, Regan and Doherty called for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to come to the House for a debate on the Lisbon treaty. As Senators know, the Bill relating to the treaty will be published tomorrow and the Minister will be attending the House in due course. After progression of the Bill through the Houses we can assess the possibility of a debate. As far as I am concerned we can have as many debates as Senators want. Information is what this entire referendum is about, and it would be a terrible tragedy for any difficulty to arise because of misinformation. I do not see any difficulty with discussing this on as many occasions as the House feels necessary.

Senators Buttimer and Glynn called for an urgent debate on mental health. Areas of concern included the document A Vision for Change, the attention paid to this by the HSE and funding to be allocated to this area. Senator Glynn mentioned an audit of care. I have no difficulty in having time left aside for a debate on this.

Senator Keaveney called for a debate on major investment over the past ten years in the institutes of technology which have been the great success story of our country, and requested that the Minister of Education and Science is present. There is no difficulty in this taking place.

Senator Healy Eames expressed various concerns and I will pass these on to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. If the Senator wishes to have the matter as the subject of an Adjournment debate, the Cathaoirleach has indicated he will be very forthcoming in allowing time for this.

Senator Callely called for an update on Transport 21. I have no difficulty leaving time aside for this too. With regard to No. 17, motion 36 referred to by Senator Norris, I will examine this and come back to the Seanad tomorrow morning.

Senator Coffey called for a debate on the challenges facing school transport and asked for the Minister to be present. There is no problem having time left aside for this.

The request for a debate on balanced regional development could be taken with the debate called for by Senator Alan Kelly. He pointed out to the House that we should discuss the downturn in economy. The figures for the first two months of this year show a shortfall of €517 million in VAT, capital gains tax and other areas of revenue. We must face this challenge. It is a global issue. The people must see how best they can work together to get over this problem and assist each other. As I said previously on the Order of Business, the greatest challenge facing our country is competitiveness. I intend to allow an all-day debate after Easter and during the first two weeks of our return on this issue and all matters pertaining to the economy, including the challenges facing us in the future. I ask the spokespersons for finance of all parties in the House to note this. The debate on balanced regional development requested by Senators Kelly and Coffey can take place as part of the wider debate on the economy.

Senator Donohoe called for a debate on anti-social behaviour, highlighting the problems many school boards of management have with absenteeism. The Senator gave a figure of one in 20 students having difficulty attending school. I have no difficulty holding a debate on this issue.

I agree with the points the Senator made about mainstream violence and the possible effects of quad advertisements and other advertising for films in cinemas. The Senator referred to posters containing violent scenes. I do not think it healthy that this is happening in our country. The Irish Film Censor's Office has a duty in this regard. As someone very closely associated with the film industry in the early years of my career, this type of advertising did not exist years ago. We used to see the wonderful quad advertisements of "Gone with the Wind" and other such beautiful family posters.