Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

Senator Twomey called for a debate on prisons. I have already given a commitment to the House that this will take place. It is timely that the Senator has called for such a debate and it is urgently required. I have no difficulty giving a commitment that this will take place. I will try to have it take place in the next four weeks if at all possible.

Senators Twomey, O'Toole, Hannigan, Boyle, MacSharry, Quinn, Ó Murchú, Buttimer, Coghlan, Mullen and Healy Eames expressed views regarding the Croke Park agreement. I, too, welcome the vote by the public services union in favour of the agreement. I thank colleagues on all sides of the House for their support on that. I know it is not easy but country comes first and I am proud of the colleagues who are telling their constituents, those who put them here, that this agreement is crucial for the future of our country and for future generations. The trade union leadership, which is acting so responsibly, must be supported, and we fully support them.

We will have an all day debate on the agreement here next Thursday. I endeavoured to have the debate take place today but the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, is in the Dáil today. The Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, will be here along with the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, for this crucial debate next Thursday. I am sure colleagues would have wanted me to have the Ministers present for the debate on this most serious of agreements and what is now being asked of the workers who have had a reduction in their pay and their standards of living, all in the national interest. I hope that together we can make this agreement happen. I assure everyone that the commitment by the Government regarding the spirit of the agreement will be the plank on which the workers will vote in favour of the agreement.

Senators O'Toole and Boyle raised the issue of Seanad reform. As the Deputy Leader, Senator Boyle, correctly said, the drafts people are at an advanced stage in regard to the local government Bill which will bring in the regulations regarding the new Mayor of Dublin. They are working on it currently and as the Deputy Leader said, the next job of work for them will be to examine the submissions from all colleagues in the House on the Seanad reform legislation.

Senators Hannigan and Coghlan called for a debate on tourism at this crucial time in which we find ourselves regarding the challenges facing that industry. I, too, welcome the €20 million that has been allocated for marketing by the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, which is a vote of confidence from the Minister to assist the industry. It has been a really difficult year, probably one of the most difficult tourism has experienced in the past 50 years, in respect of air transport. I acknowledge everything that has been done by the airlines, the ferries and everyone in aviation to keep our planes in the air and our ferries crossing the seas. As an island nation, we are so dependent on our exports. They are crucial and the one ray of hope we have seen is that our exports have continued to stay strong during the global downturn.

Senators Donohoe, Buttimer, Ross and Coffey called for a debate on Transport 21, the difficulties experienced by the old CIE, as we knew it, Dublin Bus, Iarnród Éireann and all the various challenges facing the Transport 21 programme. To give balance, we must acknowledge that the dual carriageways from Dublin to Cork, Limerick and Galway represent the new Ireland as we know it, compared to when I used to travel 60,000 miles per year in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and drive every mile of it.