John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

There are many positive elements. All efforts at job creation should be welcomed.

Second, it is a very fortunate aspect of the Seanad that we get to speak about international events. A recent event at the United Nations will have resonance throughout the world, namely, the Iranian President's questioning of whether terrorists undertook the 11 September attacks. There is no doubt but that it was 19 al-Qaeda terrorists who undertook those attacks. More than 90 nations lost people when up to 3,000 people died in those attacks. Of those, 500 had direct Irish connections, be they Irish citizens or Irish-Americans, or were members of New York's brave police and fire departments, of whom we are so proud. It is an affront to democracy and history for anyone to blame the Jewish people for something with which they had nothing to do. It is reminiscent of the 1930s.