Seanad debates

Wednesday, 13 May 2015

10:30 am

Photo of Denis O'DonovanDenis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment proposed by Senator Darragh O'Brien. I do not wish to repeat what I said yesterday, but there is a serious crisis throughout the health service and it is worthy of an urgent debate in the House.

I also welcome the fact the Legal Services Regulation Bill, after a delay of almost three years, will be debated on Second Stage today. As somebody with a practising certificate, I hope this legislation will become law during the lifetime of this Government. I wish to bury the myth that the Law Society wants self-regulation and is against independent regulation. That is not the case. It wants independent regulation, but not Government regulation. That is the key issue. However, I look forward to having time to debate that later.

I have previously sought a debate on the persecution of Christians in different parts of the world. I was delighted to see that debate taking place in the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade this morning. I welcome that, although I am not a member of the committee. However, I still believe it is worthy of debate in this House. We believe in freedom of religion, freedom to practise religion and freedom of views but, unfortunately, in huge areas of the world if one is a Christian of any denomination, be it Church of Ireland, Protestant, Catholic or Anglican, persecution is rife. Hopefully, before the summer recess, the Leader will allocate two or three hours to debate that issue with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. It would be a worthwhile debate for this Chamber.

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