Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Leader on arranging today's debate on Seanad reform. I must admit that I had some doubts as to whether it would happen because it takes so long for things to happen. The Leader has moved on it, however, and I am delighted to see that former Senators, Dr. Maurice Manning and Mr. Joe O'Toole, will be here today for that debate. Nevertheless, I want to ensure that something happens following that debate. My worry is that we will have a debate on Seanad reform but nothing will happen.

To a certain extent, that is what occurred with the debate on defibrillators. The other day, Senator Kathryn Reilly mentioned the death of a man in Cavan because no defibrillator was available. It is two years since we debated defibrillators here. I adjourned the final debate on the basis that the Minister promised he would investigate the opportunities for doing something about it. He then published a report saying it would be too expensive to put defibrillators everywhere. They do not have to go everywhere, however, but they should go where they are needed. Lives are being lost and it seems a shame that the Government has not acted to ensure that every premises with a reasonable number of people coming into it would have a defibrillator available. The fact is that after two years nothing has happened, other than a report stating the basis on which nothing is being done.

I wish to add one other point concerning what Senator Bacik said about the LE Eithnegoing to the Mediterranean. It is great to see that happening. A horrific number of deaths have been occurring and yet little is being done about it in the Mediterranean. I am not sure what the answer to that is. If the LE Eithne, which, I think, is going to the Mediterranean on Friday, saves people who otherwise would have died and lands them on beaches or in ports in Malta and Italy, what happens then? At some point, the people of Malta and Italy will say this is not good enough and that we cannot just unload people from sub-Saharan Africa in their countries and expect us to look after them. Nonetheless, it is a step in the right direction. I hope that development brings about the success we all hope it will.