Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator Daly's motion and I compliment him and the Leader on bringing this motion before us. It is surprising there is not an accepted protocol for the national flag. We have guidelines on it and we all know those from when we were in school. We knew when we could and could not fly the flag etc. and those guidelines were keenly observed. Even today in the midst of cynicism, and perhaps even anger, there is still great respect for the national flag, whether it be on civic occasions or at sporting events.

There is a sense of history in the House this morning with presence in the Visitors' Gallery of the grandson of Thomas Francis Meagher, one of the iconic figures of Irish history. Coming from Tipperary, I would refer to a battle as it has been referred to historically, the battle of the cabbage patch in Ballingarry. It was obviously much more than that but that is the way it was referred to historically. I hope the Leader will agree to review the Order of Business and allow for what the motion suggests.

I support Senators Landy and Kelly on their comments regarding the shared purchase scheme for local authority tenants. I understood that the concept of such purchase schemes, particularly the one that proceeded the one referred to, is threefold. First, the purchase scheme gave a sense of ownership to the tenant, second, there was also question of ensuring provision for the upkeep of the House and, third, there was a sense that the rent the tenant paid was not dead money. There is no doubt that there are anomalies in the current scheme. It must be exceptionally frustrating for people who bought into that scheme because there are in a no man's or no woman's land. It is as simple as that. I hope the Leader, amidst all the other major issues which are raised here, will specifically focus on this one. The fact that it has not raised its head too high does not mean that there is not huge suffering on the ground. It would be helpful if the Leader could give priority to this issue. There are good Ministers in office and I believe that any Minister would listen carefully to the detail of what has been put forward in the House. I compliment Senator Landy on raising this issue. By ignoring such issues we are adding to the anger, cynicism and the frustration that is already felt as a result of the recession. People of no property often get ignored but people of half property, which comes with the shared ownership of property, are nearly in a worse position.