Yesterday, I spoke on the issue of tracker mortgages and the plight of those who were moved off trackers by the banks before the banks were ultimately forced to do something. I did, as promised yesterday, write to the Garda Commissioner and it has been passed up the line. Enough has been said about that for now. As a result of yesterday, I have had several contacts already this morning on the issue of vulture funds. Vulture funds are charging up to 9% on mortgages when the high street banks are charging about 3%. T…

I too would like to remember Sr. Stan. May her gentle soul rest in peace. As a proud Galwegian, like the Leader, I am sure we both feel that the election of Catherine Connolly was a great thing - a woman born in The Claddagh and reared in Shantalla. Many people who were born in addresses in both of those areas did not have the same opportunity in life. What a great thing it is to see Catherine create a vacancy for the Leader to challenge for a seat in Galway West. Last night I watched the programme on tracker mortg…

I will write to the Garda Commissioner to look for an investigation and I encourage colleagues to do the same. Think of the families and what they suffered while that horrendous act took place. I will ask for that. I thank you for the time, a Chathaoirligh. I did not quite go over the border.

I had intended to speak on housing, but I will defer that until 4 November because of two things. First, I congratulate the Garda Commissioner, Justin Kelly, for turning up at Citywest last night and supporting his people on the ground. What we saw was a despicable act of thuggery, the likes of which I thought we would never see in this country again. People were firing rockets at members of the Garda, setting Garda vehicles on fire, etc. In speaking about that, though, I must also speak about what takes place in t…

I know it has been a long afternoon for the Minister. His remarks that he is willing to have a look to see what changes he might make were promising and encouraging. Senator McDowell referred to the impact on families. In his response a little while ago, the Minister made the point that, where a Garda investigation is taking place into an individual, it is in the public interest for that information to get into the public domain. Is it? Is it really right that, when somebody is being investigated, for whatever reas…

It is a criminal offence and yet we see the term "Garda sources" in the media constantly. In that particular story, three or four Garda sources were quoted without naming any. Of course, if you were to take a criminal case against that particular publication, it would claim journalistic privilege. The journalist would say that he or she is not releasing his or her sources but that he or she got the information from a garda and believes it to be true. That journalist might never have got that information from a gard…

It did last week.

The Minister said that those on social media would never accuse somebody of being a child abuser. I was accused of being a child abuser.

I was.

In recent weeks, I was also accused of being responsible for the deaths of 50,000 babies, which is why I closed down my Twitter account completely.

Maybe I misread what the Minister said. In the context of social media, and I know that is coming later, you contact the likes of Twitter, make a complaint and find that the most outrageous things are not against its rules. The bottom line is that I have no interest in Twitter any more. On the impact that wild statements have on families, yesterday I brought up the issue of migration in this country. Constantly we are hearing, "Oh, they are rapists", or they are this, that or the other. I made the point yesterday t…

Before Ireland joined the EU, emigration was a defining part of the Irish identity. Over 10 million Irish people, more than the current population of Ireland, have left this island since 1800, driven by famine, poverty and lack of opportunity. Irish emigrants have flooded into Britain, America, Australia and beyond. They were not always welcome. Irish people were once thrown out of pubs, denied jobs and mocked with signs like, "No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs." That particularly applied in Britain. Irish emigrants wer…

I am not going to argue. It will be no surprise to the Taoiseach to learn that I am going to speak about defence. I compliment him on what he did as Minister for Defence in the previous Government. The policies he put in place have seen green shoots emerge, nowhere more so than in his constituency in Cork. The Naval Service is turning the corner and I compliment him on that. In the short time I have, I will raise a couple of issues I want the Taoiseach to look at. On the post-2013 pension, the Taoiseach's advisers …

We need to look at those things urgently.

Last week, the House debated a motion on head and neck cancer. Much of what was in that motion revolved around my daughter Rebecca's experience. Colleagues from within the House and the Government supported the motion. Somehow or other, however, a story seems to have developed around the House to the effect that my daughter is very unwell. She is not. Rebecca has a wonderful life when she is well, but like all cancer patients, when she is not well, she has a pretty miserable time. She has been in intensive care on …

Section 11 is not agreed. I said "not agreed".

I am sorry, but I said, "Not agreed".

It is not agreed.

I am sorry that I did not speak loudly enough for the Cathaoirleach.

As the Cathaoirleach knows, I do not hear him all the time either. I was trying to adjust my hearing to hear what was going on. Section 11 amends section 26 of the principal Act. In looking at this amending section, it strikes me that all of the safeguards that were included in the 2009 Act, which was introduced by my colleague Senator McDowell, are gone. It strikes me that this amendment is highly favourable to the media. Anybody who wants to take the good name of a person can simply base it on an allegation betwe…