Like many other Senators, I am conscious that today is a momentous day. We stand at a crossroads.

I congratulate Senator Feargal Quinn on the Bill he introduced yesterday. In my contribution to the debate, I set out both sides of the argument. Unfortunately, some of the issues arising from the Senator's Bill will create difficulties from a constitutional perspective. To be fair to both sides, a number of the proposals made by Senators on the Government side would make the Bill more sustainable from a constitutional perspective. It should be understood, however, that the Seanad has placed the issue on the table of the Government. However, responsibility for this issue does not lie with one of the Labour Party Ministers. Dare I suggest that if that were the case, legislation probably would have been introduced by now, although that is neither here nor there?

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul announced this morning that the annual cost of energy for families has increased by €500 per annum and the society had increased spending on helping families with energy costs from €3.8 million to €10.4 million. Fuel poverty is a serious issue and one which I have raised on a number of occasions. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has made a number of positive proposals on how to assist families in this area, including by rolling out pay as one goes meters, which give families more control over their energy costs. The bottom line, however, is that thermal efficiency is the answer to this problem.

I congratulate the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, on making additional finances available to local authorities. From my time on Dublin City Council's housing strategic policy committee, I am aware that the measures being rolled out for local authority housing will save tenants on average one third on their energy bills in a short period. The answer is not so easy for the many people in poverty who live in the rented sector and depend on rent supplement. A strategy is required to improve thermal efficiency in rented homes. I ask the Leader to raise this matter with the relevant Minister.

I thank Senators for the very useful and, I hope, helpful debate in the House last night. As Senator Aideen Hayden pointed out, this is a momentous day given what will take place tomorrow. I hope last night's debate will be useful to the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, as he seeks to develop tactics and policies on the issue addressed in my Bill. I do not agree with Senator Colm Burke's suggestion that taxing rental income for larger companies and landlords could provide a solution as to do so would not benefit tenants. I thank speakers from all sides for their contributions to last night's useful debate.

I ask the Leader to raise with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, an urgent problem that has arisen with regard to adoption. The law on adoption has been changed in Russia and Ireland. As a result, at least four families who had adoptions approved and had the babies in their hands have suddenly found that certain steps must be taken before 31 October, which is only three or four weeks from now. The problem can be resolved and I gather the Minister takes a sympathetic view of the case for doing so.

While I am aware that the House debated energy recently, a number of developments are under way in this regard. It has been brought to my attention that marine energy systems have great potential for development. A considerable amount of energy is produced at the Ardnacrusha power station for the ESB. If we had half a dozen rivers similar to the River Shannon, we could have many more facilities similar in size to Ardnacrusha. The waters off our coast hold out the same potential, however, but technology and Government investment are needed. I ask for a debate on this issue because such an investment would be worthy in the long term as it would pay for itself and reduce energy costs in the years ahead.