Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I am glad he is present. In recent times, we have seen him frequently with the hat he has been wearing. I hope we will see more of him in times to come when he is wearing another hat. He has an interest in science, as we are all aware. I have a real concern that almost every time anybody mentions anything new in science here, somebody says we must not touch it. People argue that we should not have anything to do with genetically modified organisms or hydraulic fracturing, for example. I say that in the presence of Senator Mullen, who is a strong advocate of making sure we do not have fracking even though it has solved many problems around the world. It is being pursued in Europe and the US with very few difficulties. There has been the odd difficulty. We should not knock everything.

The same thing applies to nuclear energy. We should have a discussion on it. We should make sure we discuss it. The only time it is mentioned is when people are talking about Sellafield and the Irish Sea. France, which went nuclear 40 years ago, has no problems in this area now. It is not worried about oil coming from eastern countries like Ukraine and Russia because it does not need to import any oil. There have been no nuclear problems in France.

I mention all of this because I know the Minister of State wears a science hat. I would love to see us becoming much more enthused about science. Given that Dublin was the city of science two years ago, this country should be setting standards and saying, "We have done things here and we can do things in the future".

Why is Ireland the 27th of the 28 EU member states to ratify the 2005 amendment? While I am not blaming any person or any party when I ask that question, it seems that these Houses are very slow to get things done. As someone who comes from a different background, I wonder why it takes so long for things to happen here.

I was delighted to hear Frank Aiken being mentioned this evening. He was a friend of my father. He led the way as Minister for External Affairs, as the position was known at the time. He was the first person to do many things.