Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

The deliberations of this House generally do not get great exposure in the media and I have always felt one of the main reasons for this is that we tend to do our business and deal with issues in a very serious manner. Very often, this does not attract attention except when we go into controversial areas. I have always felt this was a pity because there is much debate in this House which if it received exposure would help the public debate in the media at the same time. Senator Hannigan is right in what he stated this morning. There is a danger in the last months of the House that we might sully the very image which we had in the past. We should be particularly careful in this regard.

I do not believe the Minister, Deputy John Gormley, intended to be offensive; perhaps retrospectively one could state this. I think what he was demonstrating was the huge pressures on anybody in public life at present. It is not the most comfortable place to be and this applies to every politician in every party in the country. It would do us much good if we were to continue in the way we did in the early years in the House, particularly for the remaining months. On a few occasions, recommendations have been made on the Order of Business that we set aside time to put forward whatever policies we wish to put forward and be prepared to listen to each other. At the end of the day, the general public will not be pleased with us if we waste the time we have, particularly during this crisis. I do not think anybody here intends to be offensive to each other but at the same time if it continues in the manner we have had in recent mornings most of us will become somewhat disillusioned. It is not edifying or constructive and it is not for what we entered public life.