Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The information Senator Crown brought before the House this morning is deeply troubling. It indicates that there is much cleaning up to be done in many institutions in this State so the Government will have a busy schedule in 2014. I join in supporting the call by Senator Norris that an invitation be extended to Pope Francis, a man of justice who is promoting peace and equality. Given the fact that he spent some time in Dublin, it would be nice to extend that invitation. It would be particularly nice if his visit could coincide with the re-opening of the Irish embassy to the Vatican.

Many of my colleagues here this morning have spoken about the Samaritans and the wonderful work it does, but it is appropriate that we pay tribute to all volunteers - the many people who give very generously of their time, efforts and resources to help those who are less fortunate. The Samaritans is a case in point. All of its members are volunteers. They get very minimal support from the HSE and depend totally on voluntary subscriptions and people helping them. It is a similar case with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and organisations like that. They are people who are doing an amazing job. I ask the Irish people not to take it out on those organisations because of what happened in the Central Remedial Clinic and urge them to be generous over the Christmas period in supporting those wonderful organisations that do so much for those who are less fortunate. That is the message we would like to get out from here today.