David Norris (Independent)

I support my colleagues in seeking a proper debate on the report of the Mahon tribunal. It is significant that the first call came from this side of the House. I hope this matter will be pursued as a matter of principle rather than personality, because it is principles, after all, that are involved. Regrettably, there is scarcely a party that is not tainted by this corruption, which is very surprising. We owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Michael Smith and Mr. Colm Ó hEochaidh, who initiated this. It was not as a result of investigative reporting but of the initiative of two private citizens that this came about.

Last week I was the first speaker from my group and I raised a situation in the Netherlands in the 1950s when 12 teenage boys were castrated on the instruction of the authorities in a Catholic home and with the collaboration of the state. The first was a 16 year old boy who was castrated because he reported sexual abuse to the police. I very much regret that not one single Senator, with the honourable exception of the Leader of the House, Senator Maurice Cummins, made even a glancing reference to this shocking fact. It was said to me, "Well, it was 50 years ago." Time does not delete the appalling nature of the outrage at Auschwitz not much more than 50 years ago, nor should it detract from the source of the prejudice which is very clear to all of us.

I agree with Senator Darragh O'Brien on the question of motor taxation. It would be a pity and out of character for the Leader to rush all Stages of the Bill through. The whole notion of the Bill is wrong. It is yet another money gathering exercise, just like the household tax which we are told is going to be used to pay for services. In that case one could ask why have bin services been privatised in Dublin. Taxation should not be based on the size of the engine but on the leval of usage. Therefore, one should tax petrol. The principle, with which I always try to deal, is that the polluter pays. I have an old car which cost me €6,000, but it costs me €3,000 in tax and insurance payments to keep it on the road. I use it once a week. If the tax goes up, I will offer it at a reasonable price to my colleagues in Seanad Éireann.