Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I agree with the comments made by Senator Cáit Keane and the sentiment behind them. The waste across many areas of the public service at a time of severe fiscal difficulties needs to be reined in. I do not know if anyone saw the interview the other evening with Michael Somers, the former chief of the NTMA, who spoke about the need for us to bring down prices and salaries and try to get the economy in some sort of shape. I hope the Minister for Finance will consider his point that there is a need for a greater adjustment than €3.6 billion that is being talked about in the interest of the sustainability of this country. Some people have commented on Mr. Somers's salary and pension. He was one of the more notable public servants and one of the very few, particularly in the financial and regulatory area, who has come out of this major economic crisis unscathed. His stewardship of the NTMA was nothing short of excellent and it was one of the few areas of public service that we can be proud of.

I concur with the call by Senator Bacik for a debate on human rights with the Minister for Justice and Equality after the Geneva meeting. It is a good idea and I commend the Leader on having a debate on this last week, although it was a pity we did not have a little longer to make contributions - they were truncated because of the time constraint. I would like in particular to hone in on the distinction between fundamental human rights and invented human rights. An example of invented human rights is the submission to the UN by one of the civil society organisations in Ireland that was concerned with removing religious oaths as they offend the religion of atheism. In that regard, I concur fully with what Senator Crown has said about Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani. It is disgraceful that a person has been given the death sentence in Iran because of his adherence to religion. It is notable that it is not only Christians who are persecuted in Iran but also the Baha'i, who suffer from severe oppression. I urge the Leader, if we are tabling all-party motions, to ensure we deal with cases of abuse of fundamental human rights, of which the case of Pastor Nadarkhani is certainly one. I support Senator Crown in this regard.