David Norris (Independent)

I share the concern expressed by Senator O'Brien about the absence of any person nominated to the position of Minister of State responsible for housing and tackling homelessness. That problem is deteriorating and there is no doubt there will be deaths again this winter as a result of homelessness, particularly if we have the severe weather we had last year. The Government's response has not been satisfactory at all. I am sure other colleagues will have heard Ms Alice Leahy, a very remarkable woman, on the radio this morning. She indicated that in the past the Government transferred responsibility for many of these problems to religious orders, with unfortunate results in some cases. She argued that it is time for the State to step up to the plate and take clear and direct action, but it has not done so, which is a reproach to all of us.

I will also refer to a matter I raised last week, the question of some degree of investigation into the media. This is appropriate and it is not sufficient to confine the debate to the appalling case involving Fr. Reynolds, whose reputation was completely traduced. There is always a danger, particularly with people who put themselves forward from their private lives, of being punished for making these kinds of requests. That has happened to me and it may well start happening again. I was the focus of some comments in some of the Sunday newspapers and in one article a lady journalist suggested I was simply looking for an investigation into the medium that focuses on the lives of powerful persons like myself.

This is not the case at all and I have consistently raised the cases of ordinary anonymous citizens whose lives have been invaded and destroyed, and in recent days I have contacted a number of the people whose cases I raised. They all told me they would give me secretarial support but they do not want their names mentioned. The ordinary people of the country are terrified of what is being done. The editorial in The Sunday Times related lies about me before and I received a grovelling apology from the editor, although he did not see fit to publish it in his newspaper. He published a correction and then left the material on the Internet.