Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I was delighted to hear much of the rubbish that has been talked outside the House put down by President Pöttering. I was glad to get many of the clarifications of what is and is not included in the reform treaty. President Pöttering spoke as a German and mentioned the Berlin wall coming down. Not long ago Senator Quinn and I were in a forum with another German who said his parents lived near the wall and were there when it was built, but when they experienced Northern Ireland they experienced more of a wall there than they did with a physical wall in Germany. In that context I add my voice to what I had presumed was on the cards, that the Taoiseach was to come here to talk about the situation in the North in the context of the tenth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

While recognising the great strides that have taken place so far I ask the Taoiseach to come here before he steps down and the Minister for Foreign Affairs to do so on a separate day to talk about the matters that remain to be dealt with. Anybody who watches the documentaries or lives in or near the areas knows the bigotry, sectarianism and the 17 new walls or extensions of walls that exist in the North. They mean that while the political process has moved on, the community process remains to be dealt with. Now that the Taoiseach is freer of the shackles of responsibility, he might feel freer to say some things he wants to say about what needs to happen from now on.

I have previously raised the great work in producing music therapists in the University of Limerick and I ask the Leader to bring to the attention of the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Devins, the report in the health supplement in The Irish Times today that music therapy is being used in rehabilitation of patients with acquired brain injury. We often talk here about road accidents. Half of the people who acquire brain injuries do so usually as a result of road accidents. I draw the attention of the Leader, the House and the Minister to the tremendous work University of Limerick is doing on the development of research and music therapists.

It is a scandal that we still do not professionally recognise music therapists. I understand the reasons why they are not recognised but I ask that the process be developed quickly. Music therapy is internationally recognised, even in the North of Ireland, but not here. We have talked much about autism. Music therapy has the capacity to bring speech to autistic children and reduce repetitive behaviour, but there is much new research emerging on music therapy and brain injury.