I welcome the initiative on mortgage arrears being announced today and which has been discussed in the media in recent days. It is undoubtedly a very pressing issue. The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have expressed concern in the past two years over the delays and lack of impetus in the banks in dealing with this. It is really welcome that the focus will be on owners of investment properties and ensuring that banks will have targets to reach resettlement of mortgages and will not be simply be allowed to let things drag on further. The priority must be to ensure that people are able to remain in their family homes. It is welcome to see steps finally being taken to address this and an agreement being reached with the Central Bank on it.

I again raise the issue of the Guthrie cards from the newborn heel-prick tests that I raised yesterday. I commend the Irish Heart Foundation on raising this issue yesterday. It also raised a similar concern to that which I expressed yesterday, namely, that many parents of children born up to 2002 are not aware that they only have until 31 March to ensure those records are retained and that they must take the initiative in order to ensure the records are retained. I agree with Senator David Norris that it is most unfortunate that a data protection ruling has prevailed, resulting in these absolutely invaluable records on the health of children and future adults being destroyed. I am glad that the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, has agreed to take up with the HSE the issue of whether parents have been sufficiently informed. I hope we will see an extension of the 31 March deadline to ensure that people have adequate time to contact the relevant hospitals and to get the records of their children retained.

During our Private Members' time this evening, the Labour Party group will introduce the Employment Equality (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 2013 and I would welcome support from all sides of the House for it. Senator Marc MacSharry mentioned Senator Averil Power's Bill and I commend her on her initiative last year. It was unfortunate that at the time she did not withdraw the Bill because both Ministers, Deputies Ruairí Quinn and Alan Shatter, who were present during the debate had suggested to her if that had been done it could be reintroduced as a Government Bill, which is what had happened previously with my FGM Bill. It is a good way to approach Private Members' legislation. We are hopeful that tonight the Government will accept our Bill, which goes somewhat further than Senator Averil Power's Bill in that it covers all nine grounds of discrimination and changes the current opt-out from the anti-discrimination laws of religious-run institutions in respect of all nine. Earlier Bills, including Senator Averil Power's, did not cover all nine grounds. However, we are not claiming that this is a perfect Bill and I would welcome input from colleagues from both sides of the House as to how it could be improved and how protection for employees and prospective employees in religious-run schools and hospitals could be made more robust. I believe the Bill can be strengthened and improved upon and look forward to this evening's debate.

I wish all our Ministers bon voyage and best wishes as they travel all over the world for St. Patrick's Day celebrations this week. It is important that our Ministers support the State agencies in their work to promote Ireland's strengths from culture to tourism, encouraging inward investment thereby creating jobs. I applaud our diplomatic service, Culture Ireland, Tourism Ireland, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland which are working extremely hard for citizens. Our Ministers' visits to all these regions will be an important part of that strategic development.

I am proud to be a Senator and take my responsibilities seriously. I hope to use whatever influence I have correctly and judiciously. I rarely speak on the Order of Business and only on issues about which I know little or issues about which I would like to know considerably more. That is the role I see myself having and that is my privilege. I accept that my colleagues in Seanad Éireann also have that position. This morning I ask for a debate on the Government's intention to sell off the harvesting rights of our forests. Much has changed in recent months following the successful strategy of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, and the Government with the promissory notes. Circumstances have changed since the original IMF-EU discussions in 2011. I understand that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, is extraordinarily busy during the EU Presidency, as the Leader explained last week on the Order of Business. However, this issue of selling off our harvesting rights to reap private profits that ultimately will have no direct benefit to citizens is a concern.

In a report commissioned by the Coillte branch of IMPACT, the economist, Mr. Peter Bacon, concluded the State would be liable for costs of €1.3 billion following a sale of these rights. To cover these costs, Coillte would need to sell at €78 per sq. m. While I am not an expert, the maths do not add up. The recent price Coillte gets from sawmills has been just over €43 per sq. m. according to that report. The British Government recently abandoned a similar sell-off plan. There are important environmental, cultural and heritage reasons for us not to sell our woodlands. During this terrible recession we need to keep some of our national dignity intact. Forestry and wood processing industries support thousands of jobs directly and many more indirectly. There are worthwhile restoration programmes undertaken by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Coillte and others, and, as Mr. Paddy Woodward mentioned in today's edition of The Irish Times, by NGOs such as Woodlands of Ireland. The recreational value of public forests is confirmed by 18 million annual visits nationwide. I understand Woodlands of Ireland will publish a report shortly and crucially the Government is due to consider a report compiled by the stockbroking firm, Goodbody, on the issue. I call for a debate in the Seanad on this important national issue. I will be publicly opposing the sale of our forests or our harvesting rights into private ownership. We own the banks; we need to keep the forests.