John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise a couple of matters. Much has been said about Console and I do not want to say anything that is unhelpful. People are quick to point to other people's behaviour. It is clear that wrong has been done in this instance and that there have been clear governance failures.At a macro level, our Oireachtas has to look at how difficult it was for us to get the Charities Act in place and to resource the regulator's office. We need to think about those things also.

I will make one other brief observation on this issue, which is that we use the word "charity," and it is also used in the legislation. It is in the name of the Act. However, this is about public and community benefit. It is important to remember that it is not just charity in the sense of giving away money or something else. It is about being in concert with the State in the provision of public benefit and services.

On Brexit, all of us are quick to say how others should have behaved and acted and what decisions they should have made. However, there is not one of us in this Chamber, in our business life or in our work in the Oireachtas who has not turned around and said, "Perhaps I should have made a different decision; perhaps I should have measured twice before cutting the plank of timber." That is an important approach to bring to the issue. From my own work in Europe on disability and social inclusion and the different organisations in which I am involved, my reflection on it is that the European Union is a difficult entity to love sometimes. It makes it difficult for us all to love it. However, we should still remember that it is a precious entity in a world that badly needs it. That should be our instinct.

I am coming to the end. The situation in Istanbul hardly needs commenting on. People have already mentioned it. However, I wish to make one observation and draw an Irish connection. This concerns the man who threw himself down to save others. I am reminded of an incident that took place 100 years ago, perhaps to this day, when a man named Billy McFadzean saved his comrades in the trenches in the Somme. He was a member of the 36th Ulster Division. There are great people. We should always remember that.