The Government has recently signalled that it intends to hold a Referendum on abolishing Seanad Éireann in September. This will be a hugely important decision for the future of democracy. It is important that people now begin to acquaint themselves with the facts of what the closure of the Seanad would actually mean because, if this shocking eventuality comes to pass, it is highly unlikely that the people will ever again be given the opportunity to reverse that decision...

During the Order of Business in the Seanad, I said: this year, the budget will be announced in October rather than December, the reason for which is, in part, so that we can debate it. I hope we will have an opportunity to debate it well ahead of the decisions' being made. This is exactly the type of work the Seanad should be doing...

During a Seanad motion on Charities Regulation, I said: One of the frustrations we have in everything we do here is the length of time it takes to get things done. Senator Whelan touched on the fact that it was in 2009 that the Charities Act was passed here, and yet we have not really got around to doing what needs to be done. We can and should do it immediately. The Minister's heart is in the right place so I am sure it will happen this time, but let us ensure it happens with speed...

On 1st May, Ms. Nessa Childers, MEP addressed the Seanad, I said: I welcome this debate on the EU public health legislation and I agree entirely with Senator Cullinane. There is a future for this House but it must change what it does. One thing we can do is make sure we change our duties, one of which must be to ensure EU legislation receives much more scrutiny than it has had up to now. Much of the legislation that comes from Europe aims to improve the lives of European citizens and public health legislation can be seen as one of the principal and obvious areas in which the EU can benefit its citizens...

During the Order of Business in the Seanad, I said: I am usually loath to speak about what is happening in other part of the world that we do not know very well. It seems, however, that there is a need for a public outcry against the number of public executions taking place in Iran. Last month alone, there were 100 executions in prisons that we know of, many of them public hangings. There were 82 public hangings or executions in one earlier 13 day period...

During the Order of Business in the Seanad, I said: yesterday was a particularly good one for the House. I add my voice to those of others who congratulated Senator Barrett not only on what was a very good debate on the banking sector and financial stability but also on the fact that the Minister did not, as had been planned, vote against the Bill. This serves as a reminder of what this House can do and of the skills and abilities possessed by its Members. The debate on Senator Barrett's Bill was one of a number of extremely useful debates which took place here yesterday...

During a Seanad debate on the Financial Stability and Reform Bill 2012, I said: I welcome the words spoken by the Senator and his objective or what he hopes to achieve. That is, not just to have rules for banking but supervision to ensure rules are adhered to. I wholeheartedly agree with his efforts to highlight the need to set the conditions for financial stability in order to avoid a repeat of what happened. The Bill also states: "The principal aim of these items of legislation is to reduce the probability of the State being forced to actively support the banking community with public funds." As he said, let the banks use their own money rather than the State's money...

During a second stage Seanad debate on the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Bill 2012, I said: the Bill, which is also welcome, is trying to achieve something I tried to achieve through my own recent Bill, the Employment Permits (Amendment) Bill 2012, partly as a response to the dreadful treatment of Mr. Muhammad Younis...

During a second stage Seanad debate on the National Lottery Bill 2012, I said: as chairman of An Post at the time we set up the national lottery in 1986, I was involved in its establishment. At that time, one of the concerns about the national lottery that appealed to me was the battle that went on to ensure that the money from the ticket sales did not go into Government funds in order to shore up the deficit. It seems the Government intends to use the national lottery to shore up the deficit to some degree, although the Minister would not agree...

During the Order of Business in the Seanad, I said: this morning I attended a meeting of the Arthritis Foundation of Ireland on keeping Ireland fit for work. It was very interesting. The amount of absenteeism in this country is, and has always been, affected by things we can do something about - this meeting showed some of those things...