Rónán Mullen (Independent)

I share Senator O'Brien's concerns about the ordering of business, as I expressed yesterday. This is an issue that can be resolved, once we start to have leaders' meetings, if we work out amicably and in advance the business to be transacted. There will, of course, be occasions on which it will be necessary to bring forward legislation at a fast pace. I am not convinced, however, that this legislation requires that degree of speed on our part. It can easily become an excuse to use. It may well be that legislation is timely, necessary and desirable and should not be delayed unduly, but I do not see why its passage could not be spread over a couple of weeks. Certainly, this is an issue we need to attend to.

Perhaps a similar issue arises with the Private Members' motion I am bringing forward today. I note the Government has tabled an amendment which I only received this morning. I will look at it and form my own view, but I am sure it is a very good one. It would be great if we could find a way of doing business where we would be in contact with each other about proposed amendments to see whether we could arrive at an agreement. That would reflect well on the House, as would a degree of contact between the Executive and the Legislature generally. For example, I happen to know informally that it is the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, who probably will take the legislation this evening, although I would have thought it had elements within the remit of the Department of Justice and Equality. A telephone call from somebody in the relevant Minister's Department about what it was proposing would reflect well on the way business is done in the House. Such contact would enable the adoption of a consensus based approach generally.

I had the honour, with the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, and many others, to attend the launch of a biography by Dr. Finola Kennedy about, perhaps, one of the greatest Irishmen of the 20th century, Frank Duff, the founder of the Legion of Mary. Two things struck me while attending the book launch and reflecting afterwards on the character of Mr. Duff. He was an extremely enlightened man by the standards of his time in terms of his concern for the dignity of women, in particular. He had an enlightened and far-seeing approach to the supports needed by lone mothers. At a time when the church and State were doing nothing to enable lone mothers to keep their children, he was pioneering ways forward. We do not do enough to honour such people. When prominent politicians die, we have brief conversations about which street we should name after them. What are we doing to promote the memory and legacy of other great Irishmen and women who can be an example to us all, particularly in these challenging times?

I was delighted when Senator Ivana Bacik referred to the very important report by the equality officer and the HSE's crisis pregnancy programme which found that 30% of working women experienced severe stress and what they termed crisis pregnancies because of unfair treatment, financial penalties, the denial of promotion and even dismissal. It was young women expecting their second child who were particularly hard hit. It would be a great tribute to the legacy of Frank Duff-----