Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. I thank the 20 Members of the House for their contributions on the Order of Business. I begin by joining with all of the Senators in congratulating the Irish rugby team on their magnificent success on Saturday. The occasion brought great joy and celebrations to us as a people. I also congratulate Rory Best and commend Joe Schmidt on their leadership and tremendous success in winning the Grand Slam, in particular winning in Twickenham on St. Patrick's Day. I thank all of the supporters, clubs, mentors and family members who supported or assisted all of these players to reach the pinnacle of their professional careers last weekend.

I thank the Irish supporters for the way they celebrated and behaved during the course of St. Patrick's Day. I commend all who organised and participated in the St. Patrick's Day parades that took place across the country. It was a wonderful showcase for us, as a people. It highlighted the importance of community, creativity and art in this country. I join with Senators Gavan, Feighan, Coghlan and tú féin, a Chathaoirleach, in paying tribute to and remembering the late Liam O'Flynn. I wish to convey on my own behalf, and on behalf of the House, our sympathies to his family on his sad passing.

I wish to refer to the contribution made by Senator Gavan.I would love to have been at the Planxty reunion. The evocative image Senator Gavan created this morning is something Liam O'Flynn did through his music, work and art. I wish to be associated with the remarks on his sad passing.

Data protection was raised by Senators Ardagh, Bacik and Feighan, among others. The misuse of personal data is both wrong and worrying. The Data Protection Commissioner is having a meeting with representatives of Facebook. It is important that we realise the significance of what has taken place with Cambridge Analytica and to commend all involved in unfurling this issue. It is a cause of worry. It is our personal data and data harvesting, whether is on Facebook or elsewhere, is wrong and cannot be condoned. Whether it occurs in the United States, Ireland or the UK, we must be careful and cognisant of it. I am sure part of the Minister's Bill tomorrow will address some of the issues involved. However, we must be vigilant in how we use our information online and how we use online apps and information. It is critical to ensure that what we do online is not given away. I realise there are some who will use this as a stick with which to beat people but Facebook's European headquarters is in this country. It has a duty to live up to its obligations and I hope it does so. The Minister will be in the House tomorrow to discuss the Data Protection Bill and I hope he will address some of the significant issues mentioned in the House this morning. However, it is a worry. The trend has begun and I hope it can be curtailed and eliminated. We have a precious democracy and our vote. We do not have electronic voting but there is the ability to be influenced by online platforms, as we have seen in other jurisdictions. I hope that cannot continue.

Senator Ardagh raised the sports capital funding. For the record, 35 of the 149 appeals under the sports capital programme appeals process proved successful. I am not familiar with the information the Senator gave this morning with regard to the school she mentioned, but schools are eligible to apply. It is ironic that the Senator is complaining about the sports capital programme given that the party of which she is a member closed it down and deprived clubs and schools of the ability-----