Ivana Bacik (Independent)

Many of us have already been canvassing in the treaty referendum campaign and I acknowledge Senator O'Brien's comments and statements of support for the treaty. I know he has already been canvassing also. In my experience, people are very keen to obtain information and detail about the content of the treaty. There is very much a receptiveness to information. The arguments have not yet crystallised in people's minds as we are still at the stage of gathering information. The Labour Party and Fine Gael posters went up this morning and we are seeing the start of the real referendum campaign which I very much welcome. I also welcome the announcement that we will not sit during the week of the referendum. It is very helpful to all of us who will be campaigning.

I echo what Senator O'Brien stated about the debate on the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill which was very constructive. There were fundamental disagreements on issues but everyone was in agreement on the overall goals of the Bill and the need for social welfare reform. The ideas and suggestions put forward were very helpful. In light of that debate, I call for a debate on child care in the coming months with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, and the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, to speak specifically about preschool child care and an issue we teased out in the debate on the Bill which is the increased provision of after-school child care. It would be very helpful to address these issues.

In this light I express great concern about the reports over the weekend of a 16-year-old girl who was excluded from school when she became pregnant. I know the story is in the public domain and that the Minister has expressed his concern about it. Later we will have a debate on the report of the Minister for Education and Skills on patronage in primary schools but it is clear there is an issue about the control and running of secondary schools which needs to be addressed when such appalling treatment of a young girl occurs.

I call for a debate on prisons in light of the launch of the Irish Prison Service's three-year plan. The Minister, Deputy Shatter, announced a very welcome programme of structured community release to try to address the serious problems of recidivism where we see people returned time and again to prison where they receive no rehabilitation and are simply released to re-offend. The idea of the structured community release and integrated sentence management being pioneered through the Prison Service is long overdue and is something we could usefully debate in the House. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality is also working on it. When the committee reports on it in October, it might be worth debating it.