Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

Second, I would like the Leader to discuss a matter with the Minister of State, Deputy Shane McEntee. The Minister of State came into the House some weeks ago and stated that the Wildlife (Amendment) Act was to be amended in regard to stag hunting. I am a Member of this House partially because of that issue but the reality is that when the media queried that issue with the Government Press Office yesterday they were told that the Minister of State was only expressing an opinion in this House and not Government policy. That raises serious questions about the functions of debates in this House and what Ministers say here. Are they giving their own personal opinions or telling us what is Government policy? Are we debating Government policy with them or their own personal opinions? I would like the Leader to respond to that issue.

We need a debate on foreign policy. Foreign policy used to revolve around a number of issues such as peacemaking, making networks and other issues apart from economic return. I was concerned to see that embassies are being closed on the basis of economic return. Our own predecessor on this side of the House, Frank Aiken, saw foreign policy as more than just about economic return. If other nations applied that to us we might see many embassies closing down here. It is not just about economic return. We need a full debate on this because I do not believe it is the tradition of the Labour Party that foreign policy is conducted solely on the basis of economic return. I second the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by my colleague, Senator O'Brien.