Ivana Bacik (Independent)

We would all be pleased to see the text of the motion on Palestine to which Senator O'Brien referred. I hope there can be cross-party support for such a motion. I agree with Senator O'Brien's comments on the power of Moody's. We all agree that the power of these ratings agencies should be curbed and that they have had an undue effect on exacerbating the financial crisis within the eurozone. We all condemn that.

I call for a renewed debate on women's representation in politics. We have had the debate before in the Seanad. We held a historic debate in this House during the last session. It was the first ever debate on women's representation in politics in the history of the State. However, the need for this debate is made more urgent in light of the reports of yesterday's sexist comments made in the Dáil Chamber. I was greatly concerned to hear reports that comments were made in the Dáil Chamber which indicate that a culture of sexism is still prevalent in the Oireachtas.