Rumours of our demise were grossly exaggerated. However, I do not share everyone's joy on the basis that all will be well, that there will be reform and it will all be hunky dory, because if the schedule for the Seanad this week is anything to go by that is the level of contempt that would be visited upon us had the vote gone the other way at the weekend. That is how the Government intends to respect and regard the will of the people. We have seen already that there is a pattern in this country that if Governments do not get their own way in a referendum they try to re-run it or brush it under the carpet. As Senator John Crown clearly illustrated, there was a referendum in 1979 which extended the voting right for university panels to graduates of all third level institutions. Each successive Government decided to wilfully ignore the will of the people and ignore the referendum. I fear the Government intends to ignore the outcome of this referendum as well. It will kill us with a sort of kindness. Despite the best efforts of the Leader and the Deputy Leader in this House to behave and perform in a professional and dignified fashion throughout the entire debate on the referendum, in which they kept their dignity and professionalism while still holding true to the cause of the Seanad, there are no Ministers in the House this week, no legislation and no Thursday sitting. We should have a Thursday sitting and the person coming in on Thursday should be the Taoiseach to respond to the outcome of the referendum and tell us what will happen next because it was not gifted to him on Saturday to decide what happens next. It does not fall to the Taoiseach or the Government.

I will make one last point if I can.

The Senator's time is up.

Certain Ministers have said that people were confused and did not know what they were doing. That is not a Government that is accepting the will of the people. They said that people always vote “No”. They do not. They voted “Yes” to the Court of Appeal and in the children’s right referendum-----

I must ask the Senator to conclude.

-----but they voted “No” to giving the Government more power on this occasion and in the Oireachtas committees referendum.

The Senator must, please, conclude as his time is up.

I thank you for your forbearance, a Leas-Chathaoirligh. My question for the Leader is-----

The Senator has gone past time for asking a question.

We should sit on Thursday and have a Minister present, if not the Taoiseach to respond to the outcome of the referendum.

I remind Senators that nearly everyone in the Chamber wants to speak and it is impossible to include everyone within the time constraints, but those who exaggerate the few minutes they have been given and eat up the time of others will cause problems for those who wish to speak. I will do the best I can, but I cannot work miracles.

I commend all of those people who voted both in the Seanad referendum and in the referendum on the Court of Appeal. There is a message for all of us inside and outside the political system that 65% of the people of the State did not vote either on the future of the Seanad or the Court of Appeal.

A total of 39% voted.

I am sorry. More than 60% of people did not vote, which is a significant section of the population. We must reflect on this; not just in terms of the referendum but also in terms of future elections as well because we must mobilise people and encourage them to vote.

I said as well on the Thursday before the referendum that the vast majority of people outside the four walls of this House were more concerned about the pressing issues of the budget and unemployment. A couple of hours ago I heard that 65 people have lost their jobs in the Leader’s home city of Waterford. Those are the issues that are exercising people’s minds, yet on Monday we still did not have an Order of Business or clár for the Seanad for this week. When we did get it, as previous speakers said, it was very light. The first thing we must do while having a debate on political reform is to invite the Taoiseach to the House and to be part of the debate because he was the one who called the referendum and who put the proposition to the people. The Taoiseach was also the person who did not engage, debate or sell his own argument.

A great number of the people who voted "No" actually voted for real reform, not just reform of the Seanad but also the Dáil. They sent the whole matter back to the Government demanding reform. The Government has a responsibility to ensure there is such reform. It is incumbent on the Taoiseach, who moved the referendum Bill in the Dáil, to commit to both the Dáil and the Seanad that he will answer for his failings in the campaign. More important, he should talk about his future plans for reform, not just of the Seanad but also the Dáil.

In the past few weeks I said I would welcome the clarity the referendum would bring. I especially welcomed the type of clarity it has brought. In fairness to the Government, including the Taoiseach, it put the matter to the people having said it would do so. I agree with other speakers in that regard. We are here and have a job to do. There will be much discussion about reform over the coming weeks but we must get on with the business of the House. Next week's budget needs to be debated in the House. I do not see why it could not be debated on Thursday. Senators will have plenty of suggestions on the budget and, perhaps, they will have objections.

With regard to the proposed sugar tax, the Royal College of Surgeons, backed by the Irish Heart Foundation, has today suggested a 20% sugar tax on sweetened drinks. Professor Donal O'Shea believes the tax, in itself, would have a significant impact on childhood obesity. Obviously, it is not just a question of that tax or of taxing more because I would be in favour of lowering the tax on certain healthy foods to lower the overall cost to already hard-pressed consumers. Obesity is killing 6,000 people per annum in the country. While I acknowledge that implementing a sugar tax such as the one proposed will not solve the problem and that education will comprise a considerable part of the solution, it is an example of a measure I would like to discuss in the House in advance of the budget.

I welcome the measures introduced by the European Parliament today. Certain measures designed to discourage cigarette smoking have been brought in very conclusively. Menthol cigarettes will be outlawed and 65% of the service area of cigarette packaging will be covered with health warnings, including imagery. Fine Gael MEPs have been pushing for a proportion of 75%. I welcome the measure as it is very significant.

Saturday's result was a great victory for democracy, the Seanad and the Constitution. I commend all those who voted, especially those who succeeded in persuading the majority to vote "No". Many of them are present in this Chamber. I will not name anybody as we all know who they are. There are some, but not too many, in the other House. I commend my leader, Deputy Micheál Martin, for his sterling performance, especially during the famous debate in which he argued against an empty chair.

An empty dressing room.

Let us for one moment step back from this matter. We have had a hard, bruising bout. We were under fierce attack for the past six months and terrible things were said about this institution and us. I am not prepared to rush headlong into any specific talks on the reform of this House on its own. I do not believe anybody who thinks seriously about the matter would want to do so either. Let us pause to reflect. The Taoiseach, for whom I have great time in other circumstances, must realise he has made a very serious mistake. He was gracious. Somebody said he was very gracious in defeat. I would say he was gracious like Sonny Liston was after Muhammad Ali knocked him out in the first minute - as gracious as that, he could be.

If there is to be an overall reappraisal of how politics works in this country, let it start with the primary House, the Lower House, and proceed to the presidency in general - I am not talking about the present incumbent. Let the Seanad be part of the process. We have other fish to fry. There is a budget to come and people are out of work. There is a lot going on and people are still in negative equity or have mortgage problems. That is the real world.

We have had a fair bashing of the Seanad. It is time to leave us alone for a while.