Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

The Government has set a course to introduce legislation to make it a criminal offence to withhold information on child abuse. Such legislation is long overdue. We had an excellent debate on the Murphy report and it would be worthwhile looking back on the contributions of Members and former Members to that debate. The protection of children should be paramount in any Government's mind. Our thoughts must be with and our support provided for the survivors of child abuse, as well as for those victims who have passed on. We should be thinking of them today after the publication of such a report. We must also think of the good priests who are working in every community who feel humiliated by the actions of their evil colleagues, not only in Cloyne but also in many other dioceses. I will try to facilitate a debate on the report next week or the following week. We will request either the Minister for Justice and Equality or the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to attend the House, although I know a lot of their time will be taken up in preparing legislation to deal with these matters. However, I am sure that if their diaries permit it, we will have them here to discuss this dreadful situation as outlined in the report published yesterday.

I agree totally with Senator Fiach Mac Conghail on idealism and positivity within the arts. I am a former chairman of the Garter Lane Arts Centre in Waterford, as well as the city's light opera festival committee. As I said yesterday, a debate on the arts and culture will be organised early in the autumn. I am sure the Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, will be delighted to attend the House for an exchange of views on the arts.

Senator Barrett asked that Mr. Chopra would be invited to address the House. We will add him to the long list of people who are requested to come to the House and it will be discussed by the Committee on Procedure and Privileges. I agree with the Senator that if at all possible, universal health insurance should be introduced sooner than the Minister envisages. I will certainly pass on the Senator's comments to the Minister, on which I am sure he shares the Senator's concerns. I am also sure the Minister would like to have the universal health insurance in place sooner than envisaged. We dealt with the issue of Palestinian statehood yesterday. We will certainly bring the matter to the attention of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and will endeavour at a later stage to invite the Minister to the House to debate the Middle East situation.

Senator Cullinane spoke about the Cloyne report and the cuts in social welfare, which I have addressed. Senator Bradford also wants a debate on the Middle East and I have commented on the Cloyne report. Senators MacSharry and O'Keeffe referred to the wonderful achievements of students attending Sligo IT. They called for the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, to come to the House to debate support for institutes of technology and Senator MacSharry's request to deal with entrepreneurships in primary schools and beyond. I will certainly try to get the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, to the House. I am not sure if he has been here yet. It is an item on which we hope to get him to come here.

Senator Paul Coghlan brought to our attention the plight of Killarney House, as he has done on several occasions in the House. Senator Healy Eames spoke about the discrepancy in the numbers of PPS numbers and the population, which is a frightening situation. She was asked to raise the matter on the Adjournment and I suggest she should do so. Senator Conway spoke about the seven wonders of nature competition involving the Cliffs of Moher and the importance of the project for tourism, not only in Clare but throughout the country. He also spoke about a labour relations problem and I am glad the matter has made progress since he last raised it and I hope he will have further success on the matter.

I do not propose to comment on Senator D'Arcy's comments on the name change for Fianna Fáil.