David Norris (Independent)

I support what Senator Fiach Mac Conghail said. I was here and took part in that debate. It was one of the best I have ever been involved in. There were two amendments, one in the name of the Government and one in the name of Sinn Féin. It is significant that they were both withdrawn. The Minister of State accepted what was said graciously and spoke passionately on the issue. As a result of the debate, the position of the disabled has been improved and this House has had a significant impact on Government policy. I have not seen any report anywhere of the debate, yet it is a very good argument for the retention of this House.

I congratulate An Garda Síochána on the patient, quiet investigation into the murder of Marioara Rostas, a Roma member of the Romanian community. She was not a member of the criminal community and was part of an extended family with no criminal associations. She came here from Romania in order to continue the work she had been doing looking after younger members of that family. They lived in derelict conditions in a roofless house and did some begging. We should register in this House that the Roma community, which is so often despised and which was targeted by Hitler and put in concentration camps, and which is despised all over Europe and held up to contumely and contempt routinely in the media here, does contain decent people. An Garda Síochána pursued its investigations quietly and patiently and I hope an arrest will soon follow and that it gets the conviction that looks likely. It is important to state that not all the members of the Roma community are as portrayed in the media.