John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I fail to see how it could be out of order to pay tribute to someone. We have paid tribute to all manner of people, from farmers to GAA players to local advocates, throughout the three and a half years I have been a Senator and none of these tributes has ever been ruled out of order. The only thing that appears to be out of order is that it is probably creates an odour for the leadership of Fine Gael that these unfortunate realities are being brought home to roost in this Chamber where they are most relevant.

It is essential that the Taoiseach provide a commitment and firm timeline for his plans for Seanad reform. His behaviour towards the Seanad has been regrettable from day one. His pre-election promise to hold a referendum to abolish the Seanad was valid and an honourable question was put to the people and defeated. However, the manner in which the campaign was conducted was not so honourable. People sent a clear message that there was a real and palpable need for Seanad reform. I was delighted, therefore, when Mr. McDermott of Young Fine Gael stated one of the things that needed to be fixed was the onerous panel system. I fully agree with him that it should be abolished. Why can we not have a reform based on universal franchise to a co-equal Chamber?

I propose to refer in passing to an extraordinary coincidence yesterday in respect of two sets of visitors to the House. The first visitors were representatives of the Amahdi branch of Islam, a widely persecuted and admired near pacifist movement within the Islamic community whose members suffer terrible persecution in many parts of the world because of the perception that they depart somewhat from what some would regard as the orthodoxy of that peaceful religion. They were followed by representatives of the Iranian Parliament who visited the House as part of the Iran-Ireland parliamentary friendship group. I hope the visit provided an opportunity to raise the issue of the systematic persecution of people for their religious beliefs in the Islamic Republic of Iran. I refer, in particular, to the Baha'i minority whose persecution extends to not being allowed to practise their faith and being regarded not as a religious but as a political movement which has resulted in the judicial deaths of several hundred of them. I ask that Senators be given an opportunity, during the time remaining to us, to invite representatives of oppressed religious minorities in different parts of the world, be they members of the Baha'i faith, Amahdi Muslims or Coptic Christians in Egypt, to give us a flavour of how this problem is panning out.