Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

I compliment Senator Mullen on his intention to bring forward a Private Members' Bill on stem cell research. It is timely because there is a vacuum in the debate. It is not enough to have sound bites on the Order of Business week in, week out. The debate has become very disjointed and I look forward to hearing what Senator Mullen has to say and participating in the discussion. There was radical, revolutionary news on the radio this morning about stem cell research and its results in Spain. This seems to have been forgotten. This was adult stem cell research and the recipient received a new windpipe. Within ten days of that, the recipient was out at a dance in a nightclub and rang the surgeon to say everything was going well. This is an amazing breakthrough. In fairness to RTE, it presented it in that manner as well. There is a possibility that the limited debate on embryonic stem cell research is distracting from the opportunities that exist for adult stem cell research. If Senator Mullen's Bill gives us an opportunity to make a more detailed contribution to the debate, it will have served its purpose. I compliment him on taking that initiative.