During a debate on water flouridation in the Seanad, I said: Senator Norris should be commended for introducing this topic. I have two celebrations this weekend. One is my granddaughter's seventh birthday and the other - also on Sunday - will mark my 20th anniversary in this House. I mention this because in my first few weeks, this topic arose and I remember becoming involved in the fluoridation debate. I supported the practice because of the existing evidence but I will now question whether the practice needs the same deserving attention it got in those days...

After an address by Ms Mairead McGuniness, MEP, to the Seanad, I said: I welcome Ms Mairead McGuinness, MEP, to the House and, in particular, the words used by her in her address. I welcome also that she is responsible for the food and agriculture area. We greatly appreciate her work. Ms McGuinness will be aware that I was in charge of euro commerce for a number of years...

During a Seanad debate on the Taxi Regulation Bill 2012, I said: I would like to see some changes in it, particularly in regard to quantitative control, as referred to by Senator Barrett, as opposed to quality control. Twenty years ago I brought a group of some 1,500 visitors to Ireland for a big conference, everyone staying in five-star bedrooms. Those who came to plan it some months ahead of time could not get a taxi from their restaurant to where they were staying...

During the Order of Business in the Seanad, I said: Several times in the past I have expressed my concern about wasting paper and the fact that we should be moving towards a paperless society. I draw the attention of the House to Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for health in Britain, who today will announce an NHS development for making patients' records accessible to the patients...

During a Seanad debate on the Equal Status (Amendment) Bill 2012, I said: The Minister of State is welcome although I cannot say the same for this legislation. It is interesting to note that Ireland, the UK and Spain are the countries believed to be the ones that will be most affected by this ruling because gender-based pricing are most commonly used in them. I would like to know if a cost analysis has been done of this. It was interesting to hear the two previous speaker talk about costs. How will this legislation affect the consumer?

During the Order of Business in the Seanad, I said:  I draw the attention of the House to an American investment company, Franklin Templeton, which invested €8.5 billion in Irish bonds last year because its investor, a man called Mr. Hasenstab, decided that he had confidence in Ireland. At a time when those in other countries were saying: "look at what is happening in Europe, we do not have confidence in any of those countries", he said that his company was going to take an investment decision...

During a Second Stage Seanad debate on the Social Welfare Bill 2012, I said: I want to see this country on its feet again but to do that we will need tough love.  The Minister spoke about how we have managed to rebuild confidence in the economy.  I pointed out on the Order of Business that €8.5 billion was invested in this country last year because outside investors have confidence in us.  Social cohesion allowed us to build that confidence...

During a Seanad debate on the Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2012, I said: I welcome the objective of the Bill and what the Minister is trying to achieve. Having listened to Senator Barrett, however, I believe we are going to have to change the system in some way or other. I cannot believe the costs we have in Ireland...

During a Seanad motion on the future of Shannon Airport, I said: The development of Shannon Airport on its own has a good chance of winning, but only if everybody gets behind it. I have been in Ireland West Airport Knock on a number of occasions recently and was impressed by the way the people in the area got behind it...

During the Order of Business in the Seanad, I said: A few months ago I proposed that we should copy what the French are doing with defibrillators. They have introduced legislation that any company employing more than 50 people should have a defibrillator on the premises with staff trained to use it. A report this week by the Health Research Board shows that if a defibrillator was available in GPs' surgeries, thousands of lives would be saved...