Lisa McDonald (Fianna Fail)

I, too, compliment the Minister and his officials on this very important legislation. The Minister's record in the Department on clamping down on organised crime and terrorism is exemplary and will stand to us as we continue to tighten the net on terrorism in this country. Money laundering, which is a part of terrorism, comprises a huge area. If we can make it more difficult for people to launder money, organised crime will become less attractive.

The Minister's comments on the Seanad are very helpful in the overall debate on whether there should be an Upper House. It is interesting that Senator Cummins did not pick up on that point considering his party's position thereon. As a younger legislator in the Houses, I believe it is very important that legislation be read in both Houses. We need reform of the Seanad and this could be raised at Cabinet level. This would be very helpful. We need to have legislation read in two Houses. It is cheap political points scoring to say one should just get rid of the Seanad. If we asked the public whether the entire Oireachtas should be got rid of, it would probably vote in favour of the proposal. Saying we should get rid of the Seanad is political points scoring and populist.