Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom fosta cur leis na focail chomhbhróin a cuireadh in iúl don Seanadóir Ó Ceallaigh ar bhás a athair. I also acknowledge an excellent contributor here, the late former Senator from Athlone, Nicky McFadden, who was a distinguished Member of this House.

I will raise two issues. The first is the haulage charge introduced as of midnight last evening for roads in the North of Ireland. There has been little or no request from the Irish Government on behalf of Irish hauliers for an exemption for the roads in the North of Ireland, despite a number of promises, including one made here by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in an Adjournment debate I tabled. This is a failure by the Government to protect Irish hauliers, particularly those from Border counties, from being hit by the levy. It will have an impact on jobs and industry in counties like my own in Donegal. I ask the Leader to facilitate a debate on the issue with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport so we can get to the bottom of what he has or has not done in representing hauliers.

The second issue relates to the failings by An Taoiseach highlighted by the survivors of the Omagh bomb atrocity recently in the Belfast High Court. The court was told that the bombing could and should have been averted, and there have been calls for a public inquiry by the British authorities. That has not been met with any support from the current Irish Government or the Taoiseach, who has point blank refused to meet the survivors group headed by Mr. Michael Gallagher in Omagh. It is an unacceptable disgrace. The eye is currently off the ball with events in the North and, more important, with the public inquiry in this instance. I ask the Leader to invite the Taoiseach before the House to debate the North of Ireland. We will all be talking about it when it comes to the week of 12 July.