Alex White (Labour)

I, too, would like clarification from the Leader on the Government's intentions in regard to the civil union legislation which was promised following several debates in this House and elsewhere. The frustration that the leader of the Green Party and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government appears to display gives us cause for concern in that regard, and I would welcome the Leader's clarification of the matter.

I ask the Leader to communicate my views, and those of my colleagues, to the Minister for Foreign affairs on foot of the shocking report issued this morning by Save the Children in respect of what appears to be a significant incidence of abuse of young children by small numbers of peacekeepers and aid workers in various parts of the world. Early this morning, I listened to an affecting report on the BBC World Service about the matters which Save the Children exposed. The report described the case of a 12 year old child who had been gang raped by UN peacekeepers in the Ivory Coast. This was raised by the child's parents and other community leaders but nothing was done. Clearly, Save the Children is correct in calling for an urgent inquiry and, if necessary, the establishment of an international watchdog on this serious issue. I ask the Leader to communicate my views to the Minister and to consider arranging a short debate on the matter in the House.

I wish to refer to an issue that is raised ad nauseam in the House. I will not request a debate on it because we will have the opportunity to discuss it tomorrow when it will be the subject of a Private Members' motion tabled by the Labour Party. I refer to the future of the Health Service Executive. I invite all my colleagues on the opposite side of the House who have expressed their frustration regarding the operations of the HSE on many occasions to support the motion the Labour Party will be tabling.

I invite the Leader and the Deputy Leader not to put forward the usual amendment that is tabled in respect of such a motion and which essentially involves deleting everything after the term "Seanad Éireann" and replacing it with something anodyne. I call on them to genuinely support what we are proposing, namely, a serious set of reforms regarding the HSE. The motion is not a personal attack on the Minister, the Government or anyone else, nor is it a retreading of old arguments. It is comprised of a positive set of proposals regarding how the HSE can be reformed. This issue has been raised on numerous occasions by Senators on the opposite side of the House and I invite them to support the Labour Party motion.