Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

I refer in passing to the words spoken by Senators Norris and Ó Murchú about the Lillis trial. It is my conviction that woman should not have been brought out and exposed to ghoulish voyeurism. The Garda was right to protect her and her privacy as far as possible. It is a disgrace that her picture was run in the newspapers to the degree it was. It is the worst and most sinister form of journalism.

I will raise briefly a matter about which I intended to speak at more length. In light of the fact that 437,000 people, or 13 in every hundred, are unemployed, I ask the Leader for a debate on green energy as a method of job creation, for which we should set aside a day. I wish to focus on the entire spectrum of possibilities for job creation in the area of green energy, but most particularly on micro-generation. Small wind turbines could be set up on farms and on-site at businesses across the country, and this should be supported. Communities could come together, as the co-operative movement did in the past, and have a community generator. Rivers and streams could also be used to drive turbines and create energy as the mills of old did. I ask the Leader for a debate in the House on green energy, micro-generation and the Fine Gael proposition to establish an economic recovery agency to create 100,000 jobs in the area of green energy.