I genuinely support Senator David Norris's request that Pope Francis be invited to address this House. He is a world leader, as well as leader of the Catholic Church, to which I belong. In the short time since he became pope, he has been a breath of fresh air to many people throughout the world, not just Catholics, and I wholeheartedly support the suggestion by Senator David Norris that he be invited to address this House.

The information Senator John Crown brought before the House this morning is deeply troubling. It indicates that there is much cleaning up to be done in many institutions in the State; therefore, the Government will have a busy schedule in 2014.

I join in supporting the call by Senator David Norris that an invitation be extended to Pope Francis, a man of justice who is promoting peace and equality. Given the fact that he spent some time in Dublin, it would be nice to extend that invitation. It would be particularly nice if his visit could coincide with the reopening of the Irish Embassy to the Vatican.

Many of my colleagues have this morning spoken about Samaritans and the wonderful work it does, but it is appropriate that we pay tribute to all volunteers - the many people who give very generously of their time, efforts and resources to help those who are less fortunate. Samaritans is a case in point. All of its members are volunteers. They get very minimal support from the HSE and depend totally on voluntary subscriptions and people helping them. It is a similar case with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and other such organisations. They are people who are doing an amazing job. I ask the people not to take it out on these organisations because of what happened in the Central Remedial Clinic and urge them to be generous over the Christmas period in supporting those wonderful organisations that do so much for those who are less fortunate. That is the message we would like to get out from here today.