Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to note the burial today of Eoghan Culligan at the Church of the Annunciation in Rathfarnham and the burial of Eimear Walsh at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Foxrock. I know that the thoughts of all the Senators in the Labour Party, and I am sure of all the Members in this House, are with their families today.

I also note that today is the 30th anniversary of the destruction of a flight with 329 passengers on board which went down more than 300 km off the coast of Ireland. It was one of the worst disasters and one of the worst terrorist attacks in the history of aviation. Our sympathies must lie with members of both communities, the Canadian and Indian communities, and all the communities that lost family members on that flight.

I welcome the news that white knights have appeared on the landscape to save the Beit collection, or at least individual works in the Beit collection. As we understand it, although we have no details, under section 1003 of the tax code, these works can be purchased by wealthy individuals and donated to a national institute, such as the National Gallery of Ireland, with significant tax reliefs available to the donors. It is a shame this avenue had not been followed before we encountered the threat to sell these very valuable items.

I do not think these developments will change the situation for a number of country homes such as Russborough House in the long run. In terms of the schizophrenic attitude of the Irish people, we need to make up our minds about the matter. Such schizophrenia dates back to 1918, the War of Independence and the Civil War, where a number of these great houses were destroyed. We still do not have a proper line of funding in place for what are, in fact, national heritage sites. I hope we have learned from what was nothing short of a disaster in terms of the arts heritage of this country and deal with the funding of these magnificent homes appropriately.

The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has published a report. A lot of media attention has centred around its recommendation to go back to the people in terms of the eighth amendment to the Constitution and abortion. I also note that the UN committee made a number of other recommendations such as on direct provision. It made a number of far reaching recommendations in terms of the availability of social and rental housing and mortgage arrears. I note that it asked that we consider the introduction of legislation on the private rental market and increasing the rent supplement budget.

The Cathaoirleach indulged my colleague significantly. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs has published a report today on the implications for Ireland in the event that the United Kingdom exits from the European Union. I request a debate on the Brexit and the Grexit and some of the other pressing issues in the European Union.