SEANAD REPORT:LABHRÁS Ó MURCHÚ (FF) said there was a need to address the discontent in the ranks of the public sector. It was particularly important that a renewed effort was made to engage with the unions with the aim of dealing with the fears they had about the future.

Joe O’Toole (Ind) said that there was never a more important time for all the social partners to show a united front and to act in concert to distance ourselves from countries such as Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal. As had been pointed out by another Senator, there was a danger that the industrial action could escalate. The total lack of trust between the trade union movement and the Government needed to be tackled.

Eugene Regan, Fine Gael justice spokesman, said that in the United Kingdom, former Tory minister Jonathan Aitken and Lord Jeffrey Archer had been found guilty of perjury in separate libel actions. Here, a sitting Minister, Willie O’Dea, had by his own admission lied on oath and had apologised to the court.

Cathaoirleach Pat Moylan: “I am not going down that road of perjury in the chamber.”

Mr Regan said he was entitled to ask a question on a valid issue. “It is not personal. It is business . . . the least the Minister for Defence should do is resign from office.”

Terry Leyden (FF) said the matter to which Mr Regan was referring had been discharged by the courts and no further action was required.

Jerry Buttimer (FG) asked when could they expect to see an end to cronyism and political patronage with regard to the Fás board. Three members of the new board were linked to Fianna Fáil and one was a failed candidate of the Green Party. It seemed that nothing had changed with regard to Fás, which was a symbol of excess, waste and patronage.

Acting Seanad leader Dan Boyle (GP) said that recently-enacted legislation would, hopefully, bring about better governance of Fás. Mr Boyle urged Mr Buttimer and the media to refrain from using the term “failed election candidate”. The proper description was “unsuccessful.”

Mr Buttimer: “A defeated candidate is a failed candidate. I was one myself.”

Calling for an urgent debate on homelessness in Dublin, David Norris (Ind) warned that vulnerable people would die unless action was taken. If the Seanad did not take up the cause of these voiceless individuals, it should hang its head in shame.

The Salvation Army, in conjunction with Dublin City Council, had said they were closing the emergency Cedar House centre in Marlborough Street. Eight people who had been in contact with that agency had died on the streets of Dublin over the Christmas period.