Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I join Senator Mullen in extending sympathy to Kathy Sinnott and the wider Sinnott family on their tragic loss. The Sinnott family are from Wexford. It is a terrible tragedy to lose a son, especially in the circumstances.

I support the calls by Senator Fitzgerald and others for a debate on the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. He gets a lot of credit for some of the reports his office publishes, but we are only touching the tip of the iceberg with regard to moneys that could be saved. Billions could be saved without impacting either on individuals working within the public service or on the services we are charged with delivering purely by being more efficient and cost effective. We should debate that issue. It is a retrograde step if the publication of such important reports are not debated in these Houses. I am aware the committees will debate them and I fully support that. The ESRI report, which is interesting in terms of wage levels in the public service, should also be debated in this House. These are important fundamental issues which go to the core of how we are to extricate ourselves from the fiscal and economic difficulties we are encountering.

I support Senators who stated that our priority this week and next week should be the Lisbon treaty. Whatever else we do, if we fail in having it passed, all efforts to bring about recovery of our economy will be in vain. I share the concerns expressed by a number of Senators in regard to the spurious and disingenuous arguments being made in this regard by various groups, many of whom purport to represent the fundamental side of the Catholic religion. Their impact and influence on many of those people who share their convictions and concerns is being weakened by the manner in which those spurious arguments, in particular in regard to abortion and other ethical issues, are being propagated. I agree with Senator Glynn's sentiments in this regard. I believe former Senator Des Hanafin's article is exceptionally good. He has great credibility in the area of pro-life protection.

I welcome the Taoiseach's article in today's The Irish Catholic which is unequivocal in terms of its commitment to ensuring that not alone abortion but other ethical issues ploughed by the liberal agenda within the European Union and elsewhere at Commission level and here within the public service establishment will be for the Irish people to decide, which is precisely as it should be. The impact of the arguments being made by some of these groups is having an effect. I have been out canvassing and have been confronted on these issues by people who are genuinely concerned. I do not mind anybody opposing on the basis of strong genuine arguments but latching on to untruths and promoting them in order to get a "No" vote to satisfy another agenda is wrong.