Mary Moran (Labour)

I echo Senator James Heffernan's sentiments. The thought ran through my mind last weekend. I agree the walls of this great building should only be adorned with portraits of people who have shown excellent example and been great role models for the country.

I welcome the High Court decision and settlement in the case of Ms Olivia Kearney, the lady from County Louth who was subjected to an unnecessary symphysiotomy at the age of 18 years. I commend her and all the other victims of symphysiotomy for their bravery in speaking out and raising awareness of this barbaric procedure which was performed on 1,500 women in the latter part of the 20th century. I again call on the Leader to schedule a debate on the issue following the excellent debate in the Dáil a few weeks ago. We should continue that good work by having a debate in this House.

I refer to the shock announcement last Thursday of the closure of the Vodafone call centre in Dundalk and the transfer of jobs to Newry. A few weeks ago we heard the wonderful news that 1,000 jobs new jobs were to be created by PayPal in Dundalk, but in one fell swoop last week 350 jobs were lost in Vodafone's call centres in Dublin and Dundalk. Will the Leader ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to come to the House to debate the commitment of international companies such as this to the economy? It is important to have a debate on the issue.