Rónán Mullen (Independent)

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to debate the implications of yesterday's remarkable decision by the governing body of University College Cork to approve a protocol allowing human embryonic cell stem research at the university. I am sorry to say that my colleague, Senator Joe O'Toole, could not be more wrong in his analysis of the issue. There is an urgent need for a debate on this issue. The move by University College Cork, UCC, is astonishing for many reasons. It has pre-empted legislation in what is a vitally sensitive area. This publicly-funded body has pre-empted legislation and, possibly, a Supreme Court decision and has done so, it seems, without any public consultation. So slight is its regard for the Legislature that a letter which I wrote to the president of UCC last Friday was not circulated, as I requested, to the members of the governing body in advance of a meeting. While UCC was unable to confirm that this was the case, I have been informed by sources within the governing body that it is the case. So opaque are the proceedings of the governing body, I was not able to get confirmation of this fact.

There has been no public consultation on this issue, which has profound ethical implications. This is occurring at a time when the potential of adult stem cell research, which is ethically uncontroversial, cannot be denied and when people like Dr. Colin McGuckin, an eminent scientist, are leaving Newcastle University in England for France because of the over-emphasis on embryo destructive research at that university. We should be seeking to employ such people so that we can pursue scientifically promising and ethically uncontroversial research. However, we have been pre-empted by the governing body of UCC.

We must also consider how it has, perhaps, queered the pitch for the Lisbon treaty. How can we reassure people that our social and ethical values are being protected by the Irish Government at European level when we allow this to happen at our backdoor? I do not know how I can offer such reassurance to people in the light of the current legislative vacuum.