Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I join with my colleagues in support of a debate on the broader aspects of the Ryan report. The need for this is underscored in documents which appear in many of today's newspapers regarding reports given by local health area managers to the HSE on the quality of child protection measures within their own areas. The quotes from some of these reports underscore the need for this debate.

Such quotes refer to dangerous waiting lists for children in need of care, serious breaches of regulation, staff being thin on the ground and a lack of family support services. For example, they refer to Cork and indicate that the list of cases which the managers have is sufficiently high as to make them unmanageable. This emphasises the point that, unfortunately, the dilemmas and difficulties - to use mild language - which existed in the past are still there.

What is the point in having a Minister of State with responsibility for children if on a day when the Lower House is debating the Ryan report, we find people within the HSE indicating they do not have the staff or ability to cope with children in difficulty today? Surely this merits an urgent debate.

I support calls from some of my colleagues for a debate on the Lisbon treaty and the guarantees which have been made in that regard. I spent time at the end of last year working with colleagues in the Oireachtas on a report on Ireland's future in Europe. The main recommendation made with regard to the need for guarantees was a strengthening of the role of the Oireachtas in European affairs. Today we find a front page article in the The Irish Times stating the negotiations on guarantees may not be as smooth as first believed. Why is this happening? At 11.45 a.m. the Minister for Foreign Affairs will brief an Oireachtas committee on how the negotiations are going. The only conclusion I can draw from that is the last thing we want to happen is for the Oireachtas to find out before members of the public do. Otherwise, why would this appear in a newspaper article this morning?

I support Senator Ryan's amendment to the Order of Business regarding the Aviation (Preclearance) Bill. He is correct that this debate could be phased over a week and allow us to do better work on this important legislation.