What I've been saying

Senator Rónán Mullen has expressed dissatisfaction at this evening’s statement from the Seanad Committee on Member’s Interests, which while dismissing a complaint brought by the ‘People before Profit’ organisation against him, fails to acknowledge the possible damage caused to his reputation by the Committee’s own handling of the complaint.

Senator Rónán Mullen has written to the Chairman of the Seanad Select Committee on Members’ Interests, Senator Pat Moylan, to express his “extreme concern” about the unspecific nature of the statement released by the Select Committee last evening, and at the media coverage that this has generated.

I welcome the fact that, in the context of political extremism, this report draws a distinction between religion on the one hand and the manipulation of religious beliefs for political reasons on the other. Indeed, there are many praiseworthy aspects to the report. It astutely pinpoints the dual wrongs of both Islamism, as a terrorist and anti-democratic force, and Islamophobia, as a form of secular and religious bigotry.

Yesterday the Labour Party brought forward an excellent Bill in this Chamber to criminalise female genital mutilation. It deserves great credit for bringing forward this issue because it is about a terrible violation of human dignity that all should condemn.

I will make four brief points. First, the Minister mentioned the cardiovascular implementation plan, which is to be welcomed, but funding is the issue. She rightly pointed out that there were 12 stroke units, but some, including the Irish Heart Foundation, would say not all of these measures are up to international standards. Some 20% of people could benefit from thrombolysis, yet only 2% get it. The good news is that money up front in stroke prevention can prevent the outlay on nursing home care or hospital stays down the line. The emergence of a business plan that would allow the investment needed to improve the service should be possible.

One of the most pressing issues facing Europe from a human rights perspective is that of migrants’ welfare. It is a perennial problem for Council of Europe contacting states: how best to protect the dignity of immigrants yet at the same time uphold the integrity of the state’s border? Just as was the case with our predecessors in Strasbourg, a huge amount of our time here at the Council of Europe is devoted to the issue of migrants and immigration. The scale of the problem is vast with 10 million irregular migrants currently living in Europe and a further 500,000 additional irregular migrants entering or becoming irregular every year.