Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)

I join my colleagues in calling for an urgent debate on Seanad reform and agree with Senators Leyden and Mooney when they alluded to the former remarks of the former leader of the former party, the Progressive Democrats, when he said they must be radical or redundant. If we do not reform and reform quickly, we will be made redundant quite quickly, and let us be under no illusion about that.

I also join those speakers who mentioned the protests outside the Houses yesterday. I am a democrat and I believe people should be entitled to protest in a peaceful manner. The 200 or 300 people who protested outside this House last night, however, were nothing short of a disgrace. They are not democrats in any way and I point that some of the flags and emblems on display last night were flags and emblems displayed by the 200 thugs who hijacked the students' protest a number of weeks ago. This is a democracy and it cannot be hijacked by such people. As Senator O'Toole mentioned, some of the flags and emblems being held by protesters belong to a party that has representatives in the other House who claim to be democrats. Let us tell it as it is. These people are not democrats; they are thugs and layabouts. I pay tribute to the Garda Síochána and to the staff of the Houses for protecting Members.