Seanad debates

Wednesday, 28 January 2015

11:20 am

Photo of Ivana BacikIvana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I concur with Senator O'Brien in his condemnation of the nature of the protests against President Michael D. Higgins. Any democrat should join in condemning those protests, which are clearly unacceptable. As Uachtarán na hÉireann, the President represents all of the people of Ireland, at both national and international level, and should be above politics. Most fair-minded people recognise this. To my memory, there has not been a protest of this nature against any President about any aspect of Government policy, nor is it appropriate there would be. People have a right to protest, but to protest peacefully. This protest did not fall within that realm and should be condemned.

I welcome the change in the Order of Business to enable a debate today on the potential takeover offer for Aer Lingus. I have made my position clear, that I oppose any sale of the Government's 25% stake in Aer Lingus. As the record would show, the Labour Party opposed the privatisation of most of Aer Lingus by Fianna Fáil in 2006.

I also ask the Leader to provide for a debate on the new Central Bank rules on mortgages, which I expect will be forthcoming in the near future. I welcome the relaxation of the 20% deposit requirement for first-time buyers. As Patrick Honohan said yesterday, first-time buyers were not the problem. It is also worth welcoming the additional restrictions on buy-to-let buyers and investors, whose investments have been seen as more of a problem in creating the bubble. It is good to see the Central Bank distinguishing between categories of buyers taking out mortgages. However, many of us still have concerns about overly onerous restrictions, particularly on first-time buyers in Dublin where the €220,000 limit is low. I accept they are subject to only 10% on that. It is good to see some flexibility built into the system, but perhaps we could debate whether there should be more.

I welcome the passage yesterday of the motion on the establishment of the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes. More Senators, including myself, wanted to speak on that issue, but the debate finished somewhat prematurely. The way that happened was unfortunate, that through nobody's fault, there were not enough speakers in the Chamber at the time. The appointment of Judge Yvonne Murphy to chair the commission is welcome and I welcome the other eminent commissioners, Professors William Duncan and Mary Daly. I wish them well with their important work of inquiring into this scandal from our past.

This is European cervical cancer prevention week and Cervical Check and the IFPA have joined together in launching a campaign to make women more aware of the need for cervical checks. All the women Members have been sent some information on this issue and I hope the male Members have too. The campaign is entitled the Pearl of Wisdom campaign and the social media campaign can be accessed via the hashtag #ShareTheWisdom. I wish to support this.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.