Susan O'Keeffe (Labour)

I echo the calls made today for a debate on the Cloyne report. I have brought it with me in the knowledge that there is a risk of our simply using the words "the Cloyne report" and forgetting what is contained therein and the people directly affected. I urge caution when we say we want a debate. It is as if we want to hurry to be part of the story. I would prefer if we took a more cautious and considered approach in this House. There has been a maelstrom in the media and, not least, the other House.

While I welcome the Taoiseach's remarks yesterday, I believe we have the capacity to proceed a little more slowly and carefully. The report refers to people's lives and to people who have suffered in ways in which I trust and hope many of us here have not had to suffer. I wonder whether our desire to be part of the debate for the sake of doing so has a value. While I urge that we hold a debate, I do not urge our having it straight away just for the sake of it.

I thank the Leader for his innovation yesterday in respect of the Minister for Agriculture, Marine and Food and perhaps in respect of refinements that might be made. Is it possible to ask the Minister for formal feedback on the debate yesterday? Perhaps the format of the debate could become the format of a formal item of business called "Ministers' Questions" or some such title. This might encourage the media, which are slow to recognise innovation in the House, as Senator Mooney rightly pointed out. Ministers could impart information in the form established and Senators could ask questions that are brief and to the point.