Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have no difficulty in supporting Senator Ó Murchú's call for a debate in the aftermath, when the dust settles, on the referendum.

I congratulate the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, on successfully steering through the referendum. It is the culmination of 20 years hard work on the part of many Members in all parties and all-party Oireachtas committees. I also acknowledge the work and support of Senator van Turnhout.

There are many lessons to be learned from the referendum. One of them is whether our methods of communication to the public are adequate or effective. I was surprised to hear the vox pop on radio yesterday and over the weekend in which many people indicated that they did not have a clue what the referendum was about. They decided to either vote "No" because they did not understand what it was about or they decided to stay away, and that was despite the fact two booklets were sent to every household. Either people had a lazy attitude to finding information or they were disinterested and used the excuse that they did not know what it was about; therefore, they did not bother to vote. We need to analyse all of those issues. I might be wrong, and Senator Ó Murchú might correct me if I am, but I think a previous Government spent money on the second Lisbon treaty referendum; therefore, there is a precedent for doing so. The McKenna judgment and all of those other issues need to be debated.

I have a final comment on the SUSI debacle, and there is famous song with the lyrics, "If you knew Susie like I know Susie." I was one of the Senators who warned that it was a bad idea to take the processing of those grant applications away from the local authorities and the VECs.