Imprisonment was too good for paedophiles, said Mrs Margaret Cox (FF). Asking when the Child Pornography Bill would come before them, she said in view of the revelations yesterday about an alleged paedophile ring in the west, there was an need for the passing of this legislation as soon as possible. "I would like to condemn utterly this alleged operation and I hope and pray that the offenders will be brought to immediate and proper justice . . . I personally believe that imprisonment is too good for them. I abhor the hurt and damage that has been caused to the young people involved."
Mr David Norris (Ind) asked if the leader of the House shared his concern about the enormous volume of publicity about what had been widely described as a paedophile ring in Galway. It seemed clear to him as a result of this it would be impossible for those who might be charged to have anything like a fair trial. House leader Mr Donie Cassidy said the Bill would be in the House for debate by February.
Mr Brendan Ryan (Ind) urged members to consider some form of appropriate action to express their regret at the recent attempted intimidation of the President, Mrs McAleese, by senior members of the Roman Catholic Church. That the Archbishop of Dublin had described the behaviour of the President as a sham was outrageous. Mr Ryan said he was making this point as a church-going Catholic. "I am extremely angry."
The chairman of the Seanad, Mr Brian Mullooly, said the matter was not relevant to the order of business. He had no objection if the senator wished to make this statement elsewhere.
Ms Therese Ridge (FG) called for action to deal with three shops in one street in Dublin which were openly dealing in hardcore videos. She reminded the House leader, Mr Donie Cassidy, that he had agreed steps would be taken to deal with sex chat lines from newspaper conglomerates which at the same time sought to lecture readers on a sense of propriety.
As her party's spokeswoman on the family and community affairs, she had grave concerns. Shops in Dublin were trading quite openly with signs indicating that hard-core videos were available. She wondered if anyone was capable of stopping this flood of filth. Would the leader of the House take this matter to the relevant Minister with a view to taking action? Mr Cassidy undertook to see that her concerns were conveyed to the appropriate Minister.
Mr David Norris (Ind) was criticised for his use of the word "balls" to dismiss a proposal by former Labour Party leader, Mr Dick Spring, for a significant enlargement of the graduate electorate which returns six university members to the House. "Deputy Spring, having made a balls of the general election and a balls of the presidential election, now appears to wish to make a balls of the university seats, but he will be strongly resisted in this," Mr Norris said.
Mr Joe Costello (Lab) accused Mr Norris of sour grapes because Mr Spring had not chosen him as a presidential candidate. Mr Paschal Mooney (FF) took exception to Mr Norris's language. Stressing that he did not wish to be considered a prude, he asked if the Seanad, like other houses of parliament, did not have rules on what were acceptable words in debates. There should be a certain decorum in the House, he believed. "We are supposed to give a lead as a senior legislative assembly."