Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator van Turnhout for referring to the Employment Permits (Amendment) Bill 2012. I am not sure that the Bill will go any further because the Minister intends to introduce his own Bill next year. I suppose what frustrates me about that is it will take at least eight or nine months to be introduced and enacted whereas the Bill initiated here could have done something much more quickly.

Although it is not really the work of this House, there is something we could do for the family of an Irish citizen who has been jailed, without trial and without even the suggestion of what he has been arrested for, in Sri Lanka since September 2007. Last week family members appeared before the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade to make a plea whether anything be done. I believe there is an opportunity during Ireland's Presidency of the European Union for the Taoiseach to make an approach. We could ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Gilmore, to come to the House to explain what the Department is doing. I say this not as a criticism of the Minister as I believe he is doing what he can and the Irish ambassadors there over the years have been doing their best, but because here is an Irish citizen, whose wife lives here in Ireland with their three daughters and who has been detained without trial or any explanation of why he was arrested and who has been left in solitary confinement to a large extent. I believe something can be done. The Tánaiste is supportive of what should be done on that basis.

I asked fairly recently for a debate on shale-gas fracking. I believe that we should now consider it because there has been a change, announced in the past week, in Britain where they intend to go ahead, with tight controls on fracking. The reason they are doing this is because they recognise that there has been no disadvantage in America over the years. There has been a huge impact on fuel costs in America because, for a number of years, they had been using this technology successfully and Britain does not want to be left behind. We should not be left behind. We should at least be debating this and we have been remiss in not allowing the debate to take place. There are a number of Senators, particularly Senator Mooney, who expressed deep concern. I am pleased to hear such concern because we should bring this out into the open. In Britain, they have brought it out into the open and they have made a decision to go ahead with shale-gas fracking but under tight controls. I believe we should have the debate in this House.