Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that No. 34, motion 31, is taken immediately after the Aviation (Preclearance) Bill 2009. I object strongly to any time limit being placed on it. It is unnecessary in that if Members wish to speak, they should be allowed to do so without any time limit on the debate. By refusing to accept this motion, the Government parties are trying to avoid a vote on the issue. That shows a lack of confidence in their Government. A watered down debate, namely, statements on the recent elections, is not good enough.

There is ongoing concern about the Lisbon treaty. Currently, the Government is in negotiations with its EU partners to try to get an Irish protocol through in order to hold another Lisbon treaty referendum in the autumn. There is a possibility that the Irish protocol may not be accepted, especially by the UK Government, which is very weak. The opposition in the UK, the Conservative Party, is very eurosceptic. There is a need for us to stand up to the plate and get working on the Lisbon referendum.

The Government should put forward proposals where the Opposition parties lead off on this debate because they have the confidence of the people more than the Government does. There should also be a strong role for those who are neutral, neither for nor against the Lisbon treaty, to explain Europe in a very dispassionate way. Like everything, when one is for or against something, one can get very passionate about it and lose the message. There should be a three way debate on the Lisbon treaty between those who are for it, those who are against it and those who can explain Europe to the people.

In light of the march yesterday outside the House, we should accept the issues around the report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse will not go away quickly. What struck me when the Ferns Report was published a couple of years ago was that a large number of people wanted the debate to go away. I noticed that again when this commission report was published. A significant proportion of the people do not want this debate to take place and want it to go away because it is not a stain on the Irish nation but on the Irish character that we allowed this to happen.

I read some of the headlines in the newspapers this morning in the Library. Paddy Doyle's book, The God Squad, was published in 1989. We are now talking about the publication of the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse 20 years later. We need a wide-ranging debate on this matter and to cleanse the Irish character of this stain.

I was very struck by comments made by Members on both sides of the House on the Order of Business the day this report was published. We need to have further debates because that is for what victims of abuse and the people are looking. I would like to think we could be non-political about this. This House said it would be non-political but I was absolutely disgusted by the comments of the Minister for Defence, Deputy Willie O'Dea, in the Lower House. He quite clearly tried to make this a political issue and to up the ante with victims of abuse, which was disgusting and low. I hope we can all rise above that and give the commission and the victims the respect and dignity they deserve and not play politics with them.