Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There will be tributes to our late friend, Senator Feargal Quinn, at a later date and they will be well deserved. All of us who had the privilege of serving alongside Feargal miss him greatly. He was a model of civility and reasonableness around here.

Another great person died yesterday, aged 90. I refer to one of the few truly great people of the 20th and 21st century, Jean Vanier, the founder of the L'Arche communities. He served in the Second World War and later came to work with and serve people with disabilities in a truly exemplary way. There are 147 L'Arche centres in 35 countries where people with and without disabilities live together as equals, with a further 1,800 faith and light support groups for people with special needs and their families and friends across 80 nations. Vanier said living with the disabled helped him to appreciate two truths. First, people with learning difficulties have a great deal to contribute, Second, by living in the community with people, with and without learning disabilities, we open ourselves up to being challenged and to grow. What a marvellous man and what a marvellous contribution he made to the world.

I welcome the broadband development as it is very important and long overdue. I wonder, though, why we cannot be told the actual financial input of the consortium. We know it will be small enough but I do not understand why we always get claims of commercial sensitivity in these cases. Once the taxpayer is putting money into something, all relevant information should be put on the table unless there is a very compelling reason not to do so.