David Norris (Independent)

I understand that. I note that the Senator distanced himself from any suggestion he might be encouraging members of the Garda to go on strike.

Twenty years ago yesterday the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Gerry Collins, ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It was suggested it was an important move because it wiped a stain from Ireland's reputation. However, the covenant does not have any teeth. Since September the country has been coming under pressure to demonstrate its commitment to the protection of economic rights by ratifying an optional protocol to the covenant. The protocol creates a mechanism under which people can assert such rights. A distinguished former Member of this House, Mrs. Mary Robinson, has created an organisation called Realizing Rights. I ask the Leader to convey to the Minister the urgent necessity to ratify the optional protocol, which would help people to realise their rights.

I join others who have commented on the Government's extraordinary and lamentable decision which has apparently been leaked in advance to reduce tax on alcohol. That such a decision will do damage is made clear by a headline in one of today's newspapers, "Irish among top alcohol consumers in OECD - report". One tiny country, Luxembourg, is slightly worse than Ireland in this regard. We need to reflect on the damage to health and jobs being done by alcohol. I suggest that rather than addressing the leakage of alcohol sales to Newry in this way, the Government should approach Mr. Peter Robinson who is always bleating about his biblically based Protestantism to get the Northern Ireland Administration to co-operate in an all-Ireland effort to address the problem of alcoholism.