Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator Aideen Hayden because we know how serious it is when people are being put out of their homes through the issue of the rise in rents not being dealt with.

I draw the attention of the House to the abuse of power. It is insidious and I see a parallel between the physical and psychological abuse of vulnerable persons at the Áras Attracta centre in County Mayo and the torture of detainees by CIA interrogators. Recent revelations in both cases raise the question of how widespread was the abuse. The CIA used poorly trained, non-vetted personnel and deployed individuals without the relevant training or experience. Detainees were subjected to the most aggressive techniques, stripped naked, diapered, physically struck and put in various painful stress positions for long periods. RTE and "Prime Time" have done us a favour, as has Diane Feinstein, the senior Senator in California and the most senior Senator in the United States. I do not like to mention people's ages, but she is 81 years old, having been born in 1933. I have met her a number of times. She had the courage, as Senator David Norris said, to keep at it and speak out, despite pressure and everyone else being in denial about the treatment of detainees. The United States and Ireland are looking at themselves on both issues. Where are the morals and values of the people concerned? As far as I could see on the television, there were Irish people mistreating vulnerable persons. Where are our national values? If it is supposed to be fabulous in getting the economy back in place, these personal compassionate values are far more important. The Celtic tiger in Ireland drove them out of many. We never heard as much about profit, money and material success as we did then and we are now paying the price. These are serious issues for Ireland and the United States and we need more people with courage to speak out.