I was in this room when he told me his real-----

I am not. I am asking for some basic truth.

Like Senator Malcolm Byrne, I want to identify myself completely with the remarks made by Senator Mullen about higher education. I was present for the speech to which he referred. It is an alarming situation. Today, I raise a topic that will be of interest to the Leader, namely that of the Defence Forces. I congratulate the Ranger wing of the Army and Air Corps for their operation off the Cork coast yesterday in bringing what appears to be a huge consignment of drugs into Cork harbour, along with arrests. As the bo…

Hear, hear.

I entirely support everything that is in the motion tabled by the Fianna Fáil Senators here today. I want to say at the outset, however, that I have full confidence in the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána. This House should respect him and support him because he is bringing about effective change in a force which I, as a former Minister for Justice, know needs reform and change. Different rosters are needed. He should not be in a position where he has to take the flak for reforms that are badly needed. I remember …

Sometimes the dog eats it, though.

The Senator’s partners in government are holding Fianna Fáil back.

I identify with the remarks of Senator Gallagher about the Leas-Cathaoirleach, Cathaoirleach, Clerk and Clerk Assistant, and all members of staff. I wish them a happy holiday and thank them for all the work they have done. In the autumn, we fully expect to see the Taoiseach here to deal with the question of Seanad reform. I note the Supreme Court has yet to adjudicate on the application made by the Attorney General for four years to implement even the reform of the university seats, which was a somewhat relaxed tim…

I believe in the right of the state of Israel to exist. I believe that Resolution 242 of the United Nations represents the correct position in international law as regards the boundaries of the state of Israel. I regard the creeping annexation of the West Bank territories as illegal and manifestly illegal. I regard the establishment of settlements on Palestinian land as wholly contrary to international law. I support all of those people, many of whom are of the Jewish race themselves, who oppose the constant and ap…

I will be brief. I agree with what Senator Gavan said. The effect of this is to kill this legislation. We often come through the gates of Leinster House and see people carrying placards that say "Kill the Bill" in regard to different topics, but every person who goes through the Government lobby tonight should carry that placard because it is trying to kill this Bill. The last thing I want to say is there is a way out of this. It happened before. The Senators refused to appoint tellers.

In those circumstances they did not vote against the Whip, they just did not appoint tellers. That is the way we should deal with it.

I commend Senator Mullen and his colleague on bringing this Bill before the House to enable us to have a real conversation among ourselves, not merely about the issues that have been grabbing the headlines, but the longer term issues. We need to consider carefully what public service broadcasting is about. Is it wall-to-wall politics and chat from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.? Is that public service broadcasting? After that it seems to lapse - I am an old fogey - into blues and jazz for the rest of the evening with one fina…

-----which I find difficult to absorb. Everybody has feet of clay, to some extent, and no class of the community is above reproach. One thing that RTÉ might now consider is that when politicians go on RTÉ to be interviewed, they are treated as second-class citizens. If someone comes in from an NGO like the Rape Crisis Centre, he or she is thanked for coming along, and he or she gets an easy run. A politician gets a hammering and if he or she is doing well, they pull out something from the bottom drawer just to try …

No.

I wish to move the amendment.

No, so I had better call a quorum.

I move amendment No. 12 d : In page 13, to delete lines 28 to 30.

The purpose of this amendment is to remove section 13(9), which has the effect of saying the approval of the two Houses of the Oireachtas will not apply to ministerial appointments which have been made under sections 6 and 7 of the Act. The Act, as it stands, effectively states that in future the so-called laypersons will have to be on a longlist approved by the Public Appointments Service as comprising suitable people. Their names then go to the Minister, who can choose which to propose to each House of the Oireac…

That really does not explain anything. In 18 months' time or however long it takes to establish this commission, if this legislation survives an Article 26 reference, we do not know who the Minister will be. We are giving to whomever will be the Minister for Justice at that time, the right to appoint people before the establishment day to be members of the commission. Section 14 states: (4) Subject to section 19(3)— (a) a lay member shall hold office for a period of 3 years from the date of his or her appointment, …

I move amendment No. 13: In page 13, to delete lines 34 and 35.