Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

Senator Boyle has proposed and Senator Glynn has seconded the proposal that leave be granted for No. 13 to be taken before No. 1. I have no difficulty with this and I agree to the amendment to the Order of Business.

Senators Regan, Ross, Coghlan and Norris expressed their views on the Lisbon treaty. I will take on board the proposals made this morning, especially given the research published yesterday in The Irish Times indicating that 40% of those who voted "No" did not understand what they were being asked to vote on. This is very serious and we have a duty as legislators to correct the areas in which the electorate had serious concerns. As I said yesterday the people are to be congratulated on a 53% turnout, which is very high for a referendum. It was not a landslide rejection because a 4% swing would have won the vote for the "Yes" side. However, we must take the positives as Senator Ross has said this morning.

Senator Leyden referred to the Seanad playing a central role in coming months in making the concerns of the electorate known to the authorities in Europe. I will endeavour to have European Commissioners come here to address the various areas in which the electorate have concerns. I would like to start with the taxation matter with the agreement of the Government. As Senators are aware, the Leader of the House can only carry out the requests made of me by agreement of the Government. Some positive proposals have been made this morning and I want to ascertain whether we can put the Seanad centre stage bearing in mind the importance of the issues that the electorate still want addressed. I get a feeling that the electorate wants to be part of Europe and play a central role as we have always done. We have been very good Europeans. Ireland through all its Presidencies under various Taoisigh who have led the country has excelled. Those Presidencies allowed Ireland to show Europe how efficient, organised, determined and appreciative we are, and how seriously we have treasured the membership of the European Union during our 35 years of membership.

Senators Hannigan, Buttimer, Coghlan, Walsh, John Paul Phelan and O'Reilly all expressed their serious concern over the price differences in major stores of up to 30% between the North and the South as has been highlighted today. The National Consumer Agency has a direct role in this regard and representatives of the agency have appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment in recent weeks. It is regrettable that this committee is meeting at a time when we are taking the Order of Business. I only attended the very early part of the meeting. I have some serious concerns. As Senator Coghlan and others pointed out, the committee made its presence felt at the time of the review of the groceries order. It might be time to review the committee's report. Senator Coghlan and I, who are members of the committee, might discuss the matter with the committee Chairman to establish what progress can be made to assist the Government in this regard.

The review of the groceries order was a major undertaking as we were carrying out the trawl of the insurance industry at the same time. During that review representatives of the multiples stated that they were purchasing for the North of Ireland under the umbrella of a market of 60 million, the UK. Part of the differential was explained because the goods were coming in under the UK territory. At the time they pointed out that wage costs were much higher, as is still the case. The South of Ireland is a high cost location with higher wages than in the UK. We need to review all these areas. Perhaps under the scope of Seanad reform it could happen that the committee chairpersons would be answerable to the Seanad in this area. We could then make our presence felt both as members of committees and take it a stage further still. Senator Regan's suggestion regarding section 4 of the Competition Act 2002 is worthwhile. It should be seriously considered by the Minister and the Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Senators Regan, Boyle, Bacik, O'Reilly and others were very interested in our carbon emissions and matters pertaining to our environment and climate change. I can agree to have this matter debated. One Senator remarked that the Government might not be doing enough. As Senators know we now have a carbon budget each year, which is starting to address the challenge. However, the economy and the global downturn will naturally affect the timeframe. Experienced Senators and those with vision for the future who may wish to go on to play a more central role in Government will agree. We need to set our priorities when things are bad and the downturn is there.

Senator O'Toole called for a debate to review the progress we are making in insurance costs, particularly regarding the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, of which he is vice chairman. I have asked the Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Penrose, to allow me to get the insurance inquiry restarted during the lifetime of this Dáil and Seanad. He has agreed and this will start early next year. I can now inform the House and the insurance industry that the data for 2007-08 will be used to measure the performance of the industry in reducing its prices. Its costs have been reduced as a result of the four Acts introduced in the lifetime of the previous Dáil under the former Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern.

I do not understand why insurance premiums should be rising. They should be reduced by another 20% or 25% as a result of the legislation that came about following suggestions from the industry to ensure that Ireland is a safer place in which to live and travel. In particular, the areas of private and commercial motor insurance and employers' and public liability have been tightened up by the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act and the Civil Liability and Courts Act, and the introduction of penalty points and random breath testing. All these major initiatives came from the Government to ensure that the industry would be a much stronger position and that premiums would be reduced substantially. All fair-minded people would agree that premiums have been reduced by 30% to 40% in most cases. The industry should note that the watchdog, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, will be in being during the lifetime of this Dáil and Seanad. The Chairman has agreed that we will begin again our trawl of the industry every year for the next four years of the lifetime of this Government, as we did during the 29th Dáil and the 22nd Seanad.

Senator Boyle informed the House of the conference that took place in Portlaoise and the challenge of keeping the locations of sporting areas centre stage in communities. Every Member of the House would agree with his sentiments and we will bear that in mind and see what we can do to highlight this to the Minister during debates or when legislation comes to the House. Some are trying to encourage GAA and other sporting clubs, particularly soccer and rugby, to move to the outskirts of towns. Not everybody has transport to bring people a mile or a mile and half outside towns with inclement weather. We all encourage young people to get involved and participate in sport. I fully agree with Senator Boyle's sentiments.