David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I agree with the sentiments expressed by Senator Mac Conghail on the very constructive debate we had on the issue of people with disabilities. Since the first sitting of this Seanad I have not raised the issue of the future of the Seanad because it is important for us to get on with the business we were elected to do and not continually discuss the future of the House. However, the Leader and the Chairman of the petitions committee should introduce a work programme for the year. This is one of the new departures we all welcome. A number of ideas have already been floated regarding investigating the retail sector, young people, suicide and others. We had a very good discussion on human rights. We should go further than just bringing in advocate groups for meetings of the petitions committee. We should consider publishing joint agreed reports on those issues. Those reports should not be just reports, but action plans which could then inform public debate on these important issues. That would be the most powerful thing we could do coming out of those committees.

The motion we debated last night proposed to compel the Government to do certain things and was about action. While the petitions committee is a new and welcome departure, if nothing comes out at the end of those engagements, it could be seen as another talking shop and that we are not getting what we should be getting from those engagements. The sittings we have had have been very constructive. I ask the Leader to accept the constructive element of my proposal. We should not simply have those sittings but should also publish reports which would add weight to the status of this House.