Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this worthy proposal. We all understand the system of parliamentary democracy in the Oireachtas and how the Government generally proposes and the Opposition opposes. However, we must also recognise that we in this House have been at our best when we were able to act, not independently of Government as such, but with a certain independence of thought. We are at our most effective when we come together to make significant political pronouncements on matters of deep and fundamental significance. On this occasion, I would have preferred if we had come together to support the motion as it was written. We all appreciate that we are working within a party political system, and I am mindful of the political duty which will direct me as to how I must vote. However, it is very difficult to find anything incorrect or objectionable about the motion as proposed.

My colleague, Senator Catherine Noone, spoke about difficulties that may arise as a consequence of stating strongly our disquiet at policies being conducted in China and India. I beg to differ. We must be willing to speak against atrocities where we see them. There is no doubt that in these two countries and, unfortunately, I am sure it applies to other countries, the practice of gendercide takes place. I am gravely disappointed at what has happened in recent years and continues to happen in China. The Minister of State may have read that great book, Wild Swans, which clearly shows the huge value traditionally placed on both young and old in Chinese society, with three-generational families where grandparents looked after children while the middle generation worked. There was a great sense of family. The one-child policy has torn all of that apart and is beginning to have profoundly negative social effects. Moreover, it will also come to have grave economic effects.

I do not claim to be an expert on China and I am less so in regard to India. However, a recent article in The Economist indicates that what is happening in these countries is a cause for grave concern. We have a duty as Members of this House, as does the Government, to speak out strongly and loudly on matters of fundamental importance. Nothing is more fundamentally important than the right to life and the right to bear children. In the deeply disquieting article in The Economist, the Chinese author tells how he visited a peasant family where the wife was giving birth. She states:

We had scarcely sat down in the kitchen when we heard a moan of pain from the bedroom next door... The cries from the inner room grew louder - and abruptly stopped. There was a low sob, and then a man's gruff voice said accusingly: "Useless thing!".

The writer goes on to say that, to her absolute horror, she saw a tiny foot poking out of a slops pail. She concluded that the midwife must have dropped the tiny baby, alive, into the bucket. We must condemn such practices in the strongest possible terms.

I appreciate that the Government motion states its opposition strongly. Mention was made this morning on the Order of Business of the need for political reform and a review of how we do our business. We have often heard the phrase "same old, same old" in reference to politics in Ireland. On many occasions I have seen worthy motions put forward by Opposition Members in this and the other House - and we were all in opposition at some point - only for the Government to submit the mandatory amendment. We must move beyond that type of politics towards a new approach to parliamentary business.

I welcome the airing of this issue by way of the worthy motion put forward by my Independent colleagues. We must note what is being said. Will Senator Mullen consider saving some of us the embarrassment of having to vote against his motion by withdrawing it in order that we can, at some stage in the coming weeks or months, seek agreement on an all-party motion which speaks as strongly as possible on this fundamentally important issue?