Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I support all the requests for debates made by my colleagues this morning. The Leader received dozens of requests for debates yesterday and he faces a difficult job in prioritising them. A number of speakers have attempted to progress legislation on a children's referendum but at the other end of the spectrum the question arises of the challenges facing the elderly. I have previously stated in the context of a broad debate on services and protections for the elderly that we should set the bar higher by considering a referendum on the rights of the elderly. This proposal deserves meaningful scrutiny from the perspective of health care and civil rights. Elderly people are facing huge challenges which require political attention.

I support the call for a debate on education. The majority of Senators have received representations in regard to the school building programme. If the Government survives the coming weeks I am sure an announcement will be forthcoming in that regard. We need to reflect on the prefab industry. I understand that more than €100 million of taxpayers' money has been spent on prefabs over the past three or four years. Many school boards and parents' associations now argue that if the money was available in a different form proper structures could have been built. Can we hold an urgent debate on the prefab industry? One school in the village of Rathcormac in my constituency has had prefabs for more than 40 years. I could identify many more examples from across the country. Significant amounts of money are being wasted on renting prefabs in cases where solid structures could be provided. We should hold a debate on how the taxpayer could save and the pupils gain.