SEANAD REPORT:MARTIN CONWAY (FG) said that, as a practising Catholic, he was utterly amazed Cardinal Seán Brady had not tendered his resignation for the sake of all Catholics in this country who believed the church had a future. It was seriously regrettable that this gentleman, who no longer retained moral authority in regard to practising Catholics, had not yet made way for someone who was untainted in any shape or form with what had gone on in the past.

“In order for the church to survive and continue to play its important role in education and in other areas of this country, I think that we need a complete and fundamental clean-out and change at the top in terms of the senior management structure in the Catholic Church.”

David Norris (Ind) said the cardinal was under enormous pressure, but no one could gloat over that. As someone who regarded himself as a Protestant Catholic, he certainly did not do so.

Michael Mullins (FG) said what really angered him was that Brendan Smyth’s sordid behaviour could have been stopped if a young Galway clerical novice had been listened to in 1964.

Cabinet members would be well advised to stop provoking Fianna Fáil voters if they do not want to jeopardise a positive outcome to the fiscal treaty referendum, Thomas Byrne (FF) warned. Ministers had been attacking Fianna Fáil’s recent record in government and this was not playing well with party supporters, he said.

John Crown (Ind) was given leave to introduce a Bill to prohibit the smoking of tobacco products in vehicles where children are present.