David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to express my support for Senator Bacik's suggestion that an agreed wording for the motion on cystic fibrosis drugs should be considered by this House, because it is something Seanad Éireann could do very positively. We are not normally a confrontational House, and if we can do something positive for people suffering from this very difficult disease, it would be excellent.

I would also like to support Senator Bacik's call for a debate on phone tapping, although I am rather amused by the way this issue crops up from time to time, and always when it is to do with journalists. It is never brought up when the private citizen is involved. I remember when my phone was tapped and I tried to get Mary Robinson to raise it, but she could not, as it was a matter of national security. I am not blaming her at all. She was excellent, but private citizens do not rate a damn as far as this issue is concerned. I always assume my phone is tapped. I am a fairly broad-spoken person and I say on the telephone what I would say in this House or anywhere else. I frequently get criticised for it, but I just always assume that somebody is listening.

If there is time before the Seanad adjourns for the election, I ask that we have a debate on a metro system. It must be 20 years ago that I tabled an amendment to Government legislation providing for a metro, and at one stage it looked as though we might get it. This morning on the wireless I heard the representative of the Automobile Association, when asked about a metro, say it was a good idea. The entire public transport system - taxis, buses, Luas, trains and so on - working at its maximum potential can shift less than 50% of commuters, and he said that was a recipe for gridlock. He said also that every investment in transport infrastructure was a good thing. I know that at least one of my colleagues does not agree with me on this issue, but Dublin is about the only capital in Europe that does not have a metro. There is an infestation of half-baked Luas lines in Dublin, with their spaghetti of cables all over the place; in the beginning, the two lines did not even meet.We had one line and then there was another and then another, all joined up. It is a complete farce. If they had spent the money they wasted on Luas in putting in an underground we would all be much better off.