Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join those who have protested at the use of this House next Tuesday. We all understand that the hearings of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children are vitally important and we are very interested in them. It beggars belief that we could not find another venue, as the Dublin song says, “contagious” to the Dáil. There are plenty of other public spaces within a short walk of this building. It is part of the continual erosion and gradual denigration of the Seanad in preparation for a Government assault when the referendum is announced.

We had a very interesting debate here last evening. I congratulate Senators Zappone and Quinn and former Members such as Joe O'Toole who came up with a very reasoned Bill. As Senator Norris said, it is worth reading the leader article in today's Irish Times for a balanced view of that Bill. I had to pinch myself here yesterday to know whether I was in the real world when I listened to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government respond to the Bill because he was commending it and its purpose and the views expressed in it. All the time he smiled like the Cheshire Cat and the hatchet was behind his back. The Government attitude recalls the story of a trainer with a bad horse of which he wanted to get rid.

The trainer's vet said he could fix the horse's leg to which the trainer replied he could fix it if he liked but that he would shoot the horse afterwards anyway. There is a touch of that happening here.

I have drawn an analogy here on a few occasions between the way the Government is treating and downgrading the Seanad by inches with what happened when the old Irish House of Commons was abolished in 1800. The person who was given the dirty job of carrying out that work was an infamous man by the name of Lord Castlereagh. The Members may have heard the words of the poem: "I met Murder on the way - He had a [face] like Castlereagh -" I am afraid we have "Lord Castlebar" this time. The Taoiseach, even though he does not have a murderous demeanour or anything like it, has gone far out on a limb and lost touch with the people on this issue. He is a man for whom I have great respect. He has shown great courage on a number of recent issues, but on this one he is totally wrong. If a referendum on this issue goes before the people, it will be vehemently fought, tooth and nail, and I predict it will be defeated.