Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I agree more must be done in this regard. During the previous session of the Seanad, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland was one group that made oral submissions to the Seanad Public Consultation Committee on the rights of older people. However, the Seanad can seek to do more on this in the future.

On jobs, I welcome the announcement of the creation of 250 jobs in Dublin and Galway by SAP firm. This follows on from a series of job announcements, arising mainly from foreign direct investment, which is a sign of continued confidence in the Irish economy despite the great difficulties through which we are going and all Members will welcome that. In the same light, I welcome the resolution of the Vita Cortex dispute and pay tribute to the workers there, who have been trying to achieve resolution in this regard for such a long time.

Finally, the Seanad has held various debates on child sex abuse and institutional abuse, particularly within Catholic Church-run institutions. In this vein, Members might usefully have a further debate on what the State should be doing to ensure this does not happen again. There has been a great deal of focus in the last couple of days on Cardinal Brady's personal responsibility and on what he should do personally. While that debate is going on, Members also should consider, in light of the BBC revelations, what the State can do to prevent this from happening again. I am delighted to note that next week, the Second Stage debate on the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012 will take place in the Seanad. The Bill is part of the package of Government measures to try to guard against this terrible evil of child sex abuse and to ensure that children are much better protected in our legal system in the future.