Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I support the call of my colleague, Senator O'Reilly, for a debate on the education cuts and the impact the recent budget will have on education. While I have the greatest of respect for Senator Ormonde and I appreciate she was a teacher, these cuts are about the children and the impact they will have on their education, extracurricular activities and their educational development, not about their parents and teachers. The Senator referred to sacrifice. The sacrifice is not about parents or teachers but about the children and how they will be educated. We should not sacrifice children and their future education in any budget.

I also support Senator McFadden's comments about criminal gangs and the devastation they have caused in Limerick and many other cities. It is time for a debate on the criminal justice system so that criminals realise the law of the land will not allow this sub-culture to continue because it is causing devastation in our communities. The only business that is thriving in this country is the drug trade and that is a sad indictment of our society in these modern times. As a society, we must take responsibility because we are creating demand. However, it is the responsibility of the Government and the authorities to ensure these criminals and crime lords do not get away with this dangerous business.

Recently two deadly cargos were landed off the south-west coast. Ireland is an island nation and where next on our coastline will be targeted by drug barons to land their deadly cargos? This problem will not disappear and I seek a debate on the resources of the Naval Service, the Customs and Excise service and the Garda to ensure our coastline is well protected and that similar cargos to those landed in Cork in the past few months will not get through.