Senator Marc MacSharry raised the question of the civil action in regard to the Omagh bombing. I am sure it is the wish of everybody in the House that the perpetrators of this dreadful act be brought to justice.

I am sure the matter will be discussed at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

I outlined the situation concerning the salary of the CEO of Bank of Ireland in detail yesterday. The salary of this CEO was agreed to in 2009 under the previous Government. Caps have been set for the other CEOs in AIB and Permanent TSB since this Government came to office. We have taken action in respect of salaries and will continue to take further action when it is necessary to do so.

Senators Susan O'Keeffe and Feargal Quinn raised the issue of the minimum price floor for alcohol, although their views on the matter differed. Senator Susan O'Keeffe also highlighted the fact that the "Young Senator" competition would take place in this House on 23 April. The Senator launched the initiative, for which I commend her. The Ministers for Education and Skills and Children and Youth Affairs will be in the House on that day for the 43 young people who will make their presence known in the House.

Senator Pat O'Neill spoke about the figure of 86% with regard to the registration of septic tanks. That is a very high percentage. The protection of groundwater is very important and the 86% of people with septic tanks who have registered also feel it is very important. I do not wish to comment on Fianna Fáil-Sinn Féin pacts in by-elections.

There is none.

I am glad to hear there is none. We do not know whether it comes from one side or the other.

We did not accept the approach.

Senator Feargal Quinn and others spoke about free travel and the fact that 1.1 million people availed of the free travel scheme. Everybody would agree that we should identify abuses in the system and obviously there are abuses. That is necessary to protect the people who need it and qualify for it. Proper identity cards would certainly help in that regard.

Senator Aideen Hayden and others spoke about mortgage arrears, an issue on which we have had many debates in the House. The Government has clearly defined actions and targets that will solve this problem. We will arrange a future debate on rent supplement with the Minister for Social Protection.

Senator David Cullinane spoke about payments to bankers, an issue which I have addressed.

Senator Michael D'Arcy spoke about replies to Adjournment motions. The matter was raised at the Committee on Procedure and Privileges and we can relay what was decided to the Senator.

The issue of Guthrie cards has been raised in the House by Senators Ivana Bacik and Colm Burke and several other Senators in the past few weeks. I was asked yesterday to ensure the meeting that had been requested with the Minister would be facilitated. I learned afterwards that no request for a meeting had been made, but I understand a request has been made since yesterday. I hope, therefore, that the Minister will accede to it and have a meeting with the people involved.

Senator Terry Leyden spoke about the situation in Cyprus. Again, I addressed this matter yesterday. The Cypriot stability levy on deposits is a once-off measure, unique to Cyprus and has no impact on deposit holders in any other EU member state. We need to be very clear that the disproportionate size of the banking sector which is eight times the size of the Cypriot economy and the nature of its liabilities make this a unique situation with no parallels elsewhere in the eurozone. The Eurogroup has made clear to the Cypriot authorities its view that small depositors should be treated differently from large depositors. To reinforce this point, the Eurogroup reaffirmed the importance of fully guaranteeing deposits below €100,000. The structure of the levy on deposits was proposed by the Cypriot authorities and is their responsibility. There has been no suggestion by the Eurogroup, the ECB, the Commission or the IMF that this tax will apply in any other member state. That clarifies that matter.

Senator John Kelly and several other Senators spoke about the pending retirement of Jimmy Walsh. I hope we will have an opportunity to pay tribute to him for the excellent work he has done in reporting the activities of the House for many years. I compliment him on his professionalism in that regard. I hope we will have an opportunity next week to do this.

Senator Ned O'Sullivan spoke about Charleville railway station and the difficulties that station presents for elderly people, an issue he raised previously. I will certainly bring the matter to the attention of the Minister.

Senator Paul Coghlan spoke about banks allowing families in arrears to stay in their homes. Ensuring people will stay in their homes and that banks will address the problem of mortgage arrears is the aim of the Government. That is what is happening and will happen before the end of the year. I hope the matter will be resolved. The Senator also called for the Credit Review Office to get involved before receivers were put in place. I urge him to bring the matter to the attention of the Minister. Perhaps it could be raised when we discuss the Finance Bill for the next six or seven hours.

Senator James Heffernan complimented all involved in Irish racing and the 14 winners at Cheltenham last week. I pay tribute to the outgoing chairman of Horse Racing Ireland, Mr. Denis Brosnan, who did such a wonderful job during his term. I also wish the new chairman, Mr. Joe Keeling, every success in that regard. The Senator also spoke about Mr. John Thomas McNamara, the Irish jockey who was very badly injured at Cheltenham and celebrated his 600th winner in point-to-point racing at Kilfeacle only a short number of weeks ago. It would be everyone's hope he will make a speedy recovery. We should all remember him in our prayers.

Senator Michael Mullins spoke about social welfare fraud. As another Senator noted, I presume the case to which he referred today has been reported to the authorities to ensure this type of fraud does not continue because it is important that those who deserve social welfare get it and that fraud does not occur in the system as a result of fraudsters outside or inside the country. I think we all agree that the vast majority of people receiving social welfare are decent, law-abiding citizens.

Senator David Norris was acting as a political forecaster with regard to where political parties will be in a few years time. We will have to wait and see.

Senator Fidelma Healy Eames spoke about debt resolution and the need for further action on mortgages. We outlined those measures and I hope we will see further action.

Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh spoke about the structure and management of the HSE and the lack of joined-up thinking, particularly in Galway.

I am sure the Minister would welcome information which is available in this regard, but I do not believe it would be necessary for the Seanad to engage in a debate on the matter in order for said information to be furnished to him. I hope the Senator will forward the information in question to the Minister as a matter of urgency.

Senators Terry Brennan and Cáit Keane referred to the promotion of the Irish language. Efforts in that regard are to be applauded, regardless of the source from which they come.

Senator Paschal Mooney referred to the proposals for CAP reform. I will endeavour to have the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to come before the House to discuss the matter. He has agreed to appear before us shortly after Easter in order to discuss the situation relating to horsemeat and food labelling. We might ask him to address the subject of CAP reform at the same time. The time allocated for the debate on horsemeat and food labelling is 90 minutes, but we will probably need to extend this in order that we might address the additional issues that will arise. I will try to encourage the Minister to come before the House for as long a debate as possible. The agreement reached by the Minister and his colleagues in Europe in recent days is a major stepping stone in the negotiations on the reform of the CAP. As everyone is aware, the negotiations have been ongoing for a number of years. The successful completion of the Council's deliberations means that in the context of its goal of reaching interinstitutional political agreement by the end of June, the Irish Presidency remains very much on target. Moreover, the strength of the qualified majority given by the Council places the Presidency in a strong position in the negotiations with the European Parliament and the European Commission. The outcome was good for the Irish Presidency, but, more importantly, it was good for Ireland. The Council endorsed the principle of flexibility in the way in which direct payments were to be distributed within member states. This is known here as internal convergence and it had been the outstanding issue in the negotiations from an Irish perspective. The inclusion of the model proposed by Ireland in the range of options for member states holds out the prospect of significantly lower transfers of payments between farmers than would have been the case if the Commission’s flat-rate proposal had been agreed. We will try to get the Minister to come before the House in early course to outline the position on the reform of the CAP.

Senator Cáit Keane raised the issue of the Oncotype DX test. The Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, has announced that this test, which is used to discover whether cancer patients might benefit from chemotherapy, has been extremely successful. Ireland is the first country in Europe to make it available through the public health system. Israel, Canada and the USA already fund the test. Within the past month the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in the United Kingdom has also endorsed its use in that jurisdiction. Of the 409 women tested by the public health service between October 2011 and December 2012, 309 were deemed not to require chemotherapy and were able to avoid the significant toxicity to which several months of such therapy would give rise. The indications to date are that the test has been a highly cost-effective intervention and has allowed the health care system to avoid the cost of drugs and their administration. The expenditure on the test technology to date is over €1 million. I am sure everyone will agree that this is money well spent.

Senator Paschal Moloney referred to invalidity pension and a matter relating to P45s which has been rectified. On that matter, there continue to be long delays in the appeals system relating to invalidity pension. It is not acceptable that sick people submitted their appeals up to a year ago and that these have not yet been attended to. This matter will have to be addressed by the Government because it is just not acceptable for people to be obliged to wait so long to obtain their invalidity pensions. I am aware of one specific case involving a man who has cancer and is obliged to wear a colostomy bag. He was refused invalidity pension and submitted an appeal over 12 months ago. Each month he receives the same reply to his requests for information, namely, that his file will be sought and the matter dealt with. The position in this regard is just not satisfactory and the matter will have to be addressed. I accept that the appeals system is independent. However, such systems must address the problems which are encountered. Those who need this payment should be in a position to obtain it, about which there is no question.

Senator Paschal Moloney also requested that we engage in a debate on the mobility allowance - without a Minister being present - and that the House make a submission to the relevant working group. In that context, I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to the effect that we deal with this matter at 6 p.m. following the debate on the Finance Bill. Anyone who wishes to contribute to the debate on the matter in question or make a submission on it may do so at 6 p.m. I also propose that the debate conclude at 7 p.m.

Senator Rónán Mullen referred to unpaid development levies to local authorities. There was certainly a lack of enforcement in the collection of such levies. As such, there was an element of light touch regulation on the part of local authorities. The levies should have been collected when they were due, but this did not happen. The Senator raised a particular question with regard to Wicklow County Council and I believe I provided him with a response in that regard. I will endeavour to encourage the Minister to come before the House in order that we might address the problem to which the Senator refers. Local authorities should have been more proactive in collecting the relevant levies before developments took place. However, like others within the system, they rolled along thinking the property boom was going to continue forever. Each and every member of society knows the cost of such thinking.

Senator Jim D'Arcy referred to the Criminal Assets Bureau and the raids it had carried out on 20 premises where suspected fuel laundering was taking place. I join others in congratulating all involved in these raids and compliment them on their success. I also compliment the Senators who have continually raised this matter in the House. I understand prosecutions may be pending, but I will certainly invite the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, to come before the House to provide an update, if at all possible.

Senator Diarmuid Wilson inquired about the payment of the household charge through post offices and asked if an additional fee would apply in this regard. I am not aware of such a fee, but I will try to discover what is the actual position.