David Norris (Independent)

I would like to take up one of the points that was made by my colleagues, Senators O'Toole and Walsh, about FÁS. It would be good to have a debate on this issue. My colleagues, particularly Senator Ross, have called for this for some time and I add my voice to theirs in seeking that.

There is a significant and legitimate role for investigative journalism. It can often do things that the Houses of the Oireachtas have difficulty doing. However, one needs to be very careful when one unleashes this kind of negative energy because it is extremely difficult to control it subsequently. When it hits the lowest levels like The Sun newspaper or Mr. Rupert Murdoch and we have a headline "Wash and Go", it is astonishing that we should be expected to count the nail clippings in a Florida hair salon while the economy is going down the drain. We are told that a significant British investor has said that it is a catastrophe to invest in Ireland. His radio advertisements were the catastrophe. This hectoring, raucous, ghastly, frightfully bulldog British voice would put anybody off his product.