Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I hope the Leader will take the opportunity to convey that those of us on this side of the House have equal concern for the image of the House.

Will the Leader consider holding a debate on Northern Ireland? It is interesting that Northern Ireland has figured prominently in debates in the Seanad down through the years, especially during the period of violence and in the immediate aftermath of the peace process, but it seems to have slipped off the radar. This request has been prompted by a North-South civic forum that took place last week at Farmleigh House and which was widely reported in the media. It has been agreed that there should be a Minister for justice, the remaining building block in the St. Andrews Agreement has been put in place and the civic forum is operating. The other element of the architecture of North-South relations is the parliamentary dimension. This is in the St. Andrew's Agreement and was in the Good Friday Agreement before it. We are now 12 years on from the latter and there has been no move to set up a bilateral arrangement between members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Members of these Houses, similar to the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly on which I had the honour to serve for five or six years and which has been tremendously positive in terms of the relations between these two islands. Will the Leader investigate what is happening on the proposals to set up a North-South parliamentary tier which would go a long way to advancing closer relations between the North and South?