Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by Senator John Crown to have the Seanad Reform Bill taken today. It is reforming legislation aimed at political reform and it should at least be debated in this House. We should all be afforded the opportunity to debate its merits or otherwise.

There was a very good briefing this morning on the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, an issue that was raised by Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú. It is one that merits debate in this House and I ask the acting Leader to facilitate a debate on it. I know that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade is doing excellent work. My colleague, Senator Jim Walsh, is a member of the committee and informs me that the ambassadors will come before it in the near future. This is an issue that should be debated in this House, given its magnitude which has virtually gone unnoticed. It is not being discussed in western societies, which is remiss of them.

I support the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by Senator Sean D. Barrett. When we look at what has happened in the past week when the overwhelming grief in Carrickmines at the loss of ten lives suddenly put in stark focus the issue of housing, it reflects poorly on our society. We must take a step back and take the politics out of it and decide the kind of Ireland we want to live in and how we are going to help our fellow citizens who find themselves homeless after family members were burned alive and in light of the fact that DNA testing was required to identify the remains. Five of the funerals are taking place this morning. Money will solve some of the problems, but there is a societal issue at play which we must embrace and on which there is a need for a national debate. There may be a percentage of Travellers who have caused difficulties, but all Travellers should not be put in that category. It is something on which we in this House should give a lead and about which we should have a discussion which should include the issues of homelessness and housing. Local authorities throughout the country are waiting for money to buy houses currently available, but they cannot access the resources they need from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government because of hindering conditions which are slowing the process. We can say money is available at a Government level, but the problem is that it is not filtering down to the local authority level quickly enough. There are technical issues that should be discussed.