Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

Senator O'Toole has asked a valid question. The secretariat of the committee asked for advice on this from the Houses of the Oireachtas. As this issue was brought to my attention at 3 p.m. today, I took it very seriously. I will give the Senator the name of the official and he can check up on it.

Senators Ormonde and Alex White both raised the issue of information. There was a failure of information involved. From the time of the Irish Presidency in 2004, I have been advocating that there needs to be a sense of real communication between the Union and the citizens. The Union has to learn to speak to the hearts of the citizens, and it must learn to listen, because communication is a two-way process. It is right that the committee should examine how we do that. The research figures show that the only figures that stand out relate to the 42% of people who voted "No" because of the issue of their knowledge, while 47% abstained due to the same issue. It is important that this committee is open and that its activities are broadcast. It is important for the life of this nation that RTE does not consign the work of this committee to ten seconds on "Oireachtas Report". It is important that the people hear the arguments for and against the issues. If people make mistakes on either side of those arguments, it is very important that the people are convinced of the actual arguments.

The committee will have my support. I trust that the matter raised will be checked again. It is a matter for each individual House to rule what is in order and what is not in order within its own remit, and I understand this House has ruled that this is in order. Afterwards, I will provide to the Senator the name of the individual who gave us the advice.