Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I fully agree with the Cathaoirleach and I will only use this side of the House to defend individuals against whom wild charges have been made.

On the wider issues we should be discussing, I second Senator Fitzgerald's proposal on what is happening with children's services and how the Ombudsman for Children has been abused, to say the least, by the Health Service Executive. I have often said this House was being discredited because we were not getting satisfactory answers from the Government. That was tainting the perception the people have of all Members of this House. When we have asked questions of the HSE about the investigation by the Garda into Leas Cross, we have got no answers. When questions have been asked about what the Minister of State with responsibility for children has done with the report on the Dublin diocese or Ferns or any other report, bluff and bluster is all we have got until the answers have come out in the media. That is not the manner in which this House is supposed to be treated. If questions are asked about adoptions or about reports on the abuse of children in State institutions, we are supposed to get fully informed answers quickly from the relevant State bodies and not bluff.