Billy Lawless (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was very saddened yesterday when I saw the catastrophic fire that happened in Notre Dame. Once I saw scaffolding, I think I knew exactly what happened because it happened to me. As we all know, these roofs, especially flat roof sections, have tar and pitch, particularly in old buildings. I agree with Senator Humphreys on this. One puts roofing felt on top of hot tar and goes along with the blow torch in front of it. Anything under that is like tinder. It has been there for years and can catch fire quickly. The same thing happened to one of my restaurants about 15 years ago and but for a young little Mexican who went into a crawl space with a fire extinguisher, the place would be gone. We have the same problem with old buildings in Ireland and we treat roofing and unregistered roofers very flippantly. It should be totally regulated. We have serious fire hazards, especially in older buildings. I would like that to be brought to the relevant authorities, especially fire authorities.

I was proud to see the Friends of Ireland, many of whom have become personal friends over the years and led by one of the greatest women leaders in the world, Nancy Pelosi, are coming here to celebrate our 100th anniversary. Not only are they doing that, but she laid out that under no circumstances, if there is any change to the Good Friday Agreement, would there be a trade deal between Britain and the United States. She is Speaker of the House, but Richard Neal is chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means and he is leader of the Friends of Ireland. The other thing that pleased me following a discussion with the Taoiseach yesterday is that she is totally behind the E-3 visa which they will introduce by the first day back after the recess. We are still on track and I welcome them and thank them for their visit here.

I second Senator McDowell's proposed amendment to the Order of Business.