Vol. 193 Tuesday, No. 5 20 January 2009 DI´OSPO´ IREACHTAI´ PARLAIMINTE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES SEANAD E´ IREANN TUAIRISC OIFIGIU´ IL—Neamhcheartaithe (OFFICIAL REPORT—Unrevised) Tuesday, 20 January 2009. Commemoration of the Ninetieth Anniversary of the First Da´il………………261 Business of Seanad ………………………………277 Order of Business …………………………………279 Allocation of Time: Motion ……………………………282 Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Bill 2009: Second Stage …………………………………282 Committee and Remaining Stages …………………………308 Earlier Signature Motion ……………………………325 SEANAD E´ IREANN ———— De´ Ma´irt, 20 Eana´ir 2009. Tuesday, 20 January 2009. ———— Pursuant to Resolutions passed by Da´il E´ ireann on 18 December 2008 and by Seanad E´ ireann on 17 December 2008, both Houses met in the Round Room of the Mansion House, Dublin, at 11 a.m., the Ceann Comhairle presiding. ———— Paidir. Prayer. ———— Commemoration of the Ninetieth Anniversary of the First Da´il. An Ceann Comhairle: A dhaoine oirirce, 90 bliain o´ shin nuair a tha´inig an Che´ad Dha´il le che´ile, bhı´ 34 duine as 105 de na comhaltaı´ tofa i bprı´osu´ n. Bhraith roinnt mhaith de na com- haltaı´ a tha´inig go dtı´ an fhoirgnimh seo go rabhadar i mbaol. Sheasadar i dtoghcha´n agus tha´ngadar anseo ar chu´ is amha´in: chreideadar sa neamhsplea´chas agus chreideadar sa daonlathas. No´ cha bliain ina dhiaidh sin, is minic a bhraithimid easpa spe´ise a bheith ag daoine sa pholai- tı´ocht no´ go bhfuiltear ag de´anamh talamh sla´nda´r bhain na daoine cro´ ga sin amach 90 bliain o´ shin. Ach, ar shlı´, is comhartha ratha e´ sin o´ thaobh na ndaoine misniu´ la a tha´inig go dtı´ an seomra seo 90 bliain o´ shin, agus o´ na dtaobh siu´ d a tho´ ga´rna´isiu´ n agus a´r gco´ ras polaitı´ochta o´ shin. B’fhe´idir go nde´anann daoine talamh sla´nda´r ndaonlathas agus da´r neamhsplea´chas, ach is amhlaidh ata´ toisc go bhfuil siad muinı´neach nach mbainfear dı´obh iad. Is comhartha e´ sin gur e´irigh leis na daoine cro´ ga a chruinnigh anseo 90 bliain o´ shin, ach nı´ mo´ rdu´ inn a thuiscint i gco´ naı´ nach dtarlaı´onn co´ ras polaitı´ochta agus sochaı´ fholla´in shibhialta astu fe´in — nı´ fola´ir iad a chruthu´ agus iad a chothabha´il. Ninety years ago when the First Da´il met, 34 of the 105 elected Members were in jail. Many of those who did come here to this building felt they were in danger. They ran for election and they came here for one reason: they believed in independence and they believed in democracy. Ninety years on, we often note a public disinterest in politics, or a sense that people take the achievements of those brave people 90 years ago for granted. In a way, that is a tribute to them and to those who built our nation and political system since then. Perhaps people do sometimes take our democracy and independence for granted, but that is because they are confident that nobody will take either away from them. In a way, that is a mark of success, but we must always remind ourselves that a healthy political system and a healthy civil society do not just happen; they must be created and maintained. Throughout our somewhat tragic and troubled history, the Irish people have always made known their desire for national self-determination. That desire to have our own Parliament was best enshrined in Charles Stewart Parnell’s rallying speech in Cork on 21 January 1885: But no man has the right to fix the boundary to the march of a nation. No man has a right to say to his country ’Thus far shalt thou go and no farther’ and we have never attempted to fix the ne plus ultra to the progress of Ireland’s nationhood, and we never shall. 261 Commemoration of the Ninetieth 20 January 2009. Anniversary of the First Da´il [An Ceann Comhairle.] Exactly 34 years after delivering this speech at Cork, a group of very brave people assembled in this building to give life to that aspiration for nationhood. It is an honour and a privilege to be here as Ceann Comhairle to mark the 90th anniversary of the sitting of the First Da´il E´ ireann. Today, we salute the patriotism and courage of those elected representatives who, through their meeting here in the Mansion House in January 1919, assumed the right to establish a Parliament and run the affairs of this country. They put in place an administration and a parliamentary structure which effectively marked the foundation of the State. They gave new life to the stated wish of the Irish people for national self-determination which was expressed overwhelmingly in the 1918 general election. On that historic day they ignored the might of the British Empire and established the First Da´il. In doing so they made a clear statement to the world about Ireland’s right to indepen- dence and they also signalled a commitment to parliamentary democracy. In the words of Brian Farrell they established “the authentic credentials of modern Irish democracy”. Risking their liberty and even their lives, they demonstrated extraordinary courage and determination to ratify the 1916 Proclamation of the Republic and followed that with the passing of what is now regarded as one of the most historic documents in Irish history — the Declaration of Inde- pendence. Once the declaration was made, my predecessor and very first Ceann Comhairle of Da´il E´ ireann, Cathal Brugha, said: A Theachtaı´ na Da´la, tuigfidh sibh o´ na bhfuil dearbhaithe anso go bhfuilimid scartha anois le Sasana. Bı´odh a fhios san ag an saol, agus ag daoine a mbaineann an sce´al leo. Pe´ nı´ a thiocfaidh as a bhfuil ra´ite anso — imirt anama no´ ba´s—ta´ deireadh le re´ na cainte in E´ irinn, agus ma´s maith e´ is mithid e´ —ta´ deireadh le ra´ime´is. Ta´ teachtairı´o´ fhormho´ r a bhfuil de na´isiu´ in sa domhan ag Versailles mar seo, agus is e´ rud a thug ann iad, ar a n-admha´il fe´in, na´ chun sı´ocha´in a dhe´anamh do chinı´ an domhain ionas nach mbeadh a thuilleadh ga´ le cogadh choı´che arı´s. Deirimidne leo anois, agus san go da´na, ma´ ta´id da´irı´re, go gcaithfear briseadh a dhe´anamh ar an gceangal so idir an du´ thaigh seo is Sasana. Muna nde´antar san, nı´ bheidh aon sı´ocha´in ann. Achainı´m oraibh iontaoibh a bheith agaibh as a che´ile. Ta´ la´mh De´ ina´r n-obair: is le´ir san as ar tharla le dha´ bhliain anuas. Dha´ bhliain is an Cha´isc seo a d’imigh tharainn, bunaı´odh Saorsta´tE´ ireann. Nı´ ga´ du´ inn anois ach seasamh le che´ile, moladh is buı´ochas le Dia. Cuir- imis le che´ile agus na´ deineadh e´inne sinn a dheighilt, agus nı´ baol du´ inn. Cathal Brugha believed that independence and peace were inextricably linked and that if they remained united, they would succeed. And succeed they did, but let us remember that in the dark years that followed, many people paid the ultimate sacrifice to pave the way for the freedom to elect our own Parliament, that privilege we enjoy today. Our Parliament survived those dark times and since then it has not only survived but thrived. When other nations and parliaments, born from the breaking of empires at the end of the carnage of the First World War, had succumbed to dictatorship and totalitarianism, the Irish Parliament remained independent, free and democratic, no mean feat in a world wracked by war and strife. It continued to do so, surviving through the economic war and depression of the 1930s, the Second World War, and indeed the years following that when alien ideologies again threatened to overtake democracy. It endured the stagnation and emigration of the 1950s, was instrumental in the industrialisation of Ireland in the 1960s and led Ireland into Europe in 262 Commemoration of the Ninetieth 20 January 2009. Anniversary of the First Da´il the 1970s. It survived the downturn and recessions of the 1980s and played a vital role in the turnaround of the State’s fortunes in the 1990s. Today, it is very easy for elected representatives and parliamentarians to take for granted our ability to put our names forward for election, to canvass freely the electorate, to put forward our ideas without censorship. Maybe as a people, we can sometimes forget that some gave all so that we can cast our vote in our own country for our government of choice. We owe a lot to those pioneers who took the first steps on that road. If they could see us today, I feel they would be proud of what they achieved. The challenge for us as parliamentarians is to build on the achievements of those fearless individuals who collectively gave us our national Parliament. However, as a Parliament and as individual politicians, we know that our parliamentary democracy is not without its flaws and that some citizens query the relevance of Da´il E´ ireann in today’s globalised society. If citizens are apathetic about our parliamentary democracy today, we politicians must look at ourselves and our parliamentary procedures. Too often in the past, politics, Government and the Oireachtas may have been seen as somewhat remote from society, remote from the ordinary man and woman in the street, while the adversarial and confron- tational style of debate can be a turn-off for some people.