I pay tribute to two extra-parliamentary political figures who have done the right thing in the past two days. Mr. Dale McDermott from Young Fine Gael correctly pointed to the incongruence between the Fine Gael Party's pre-election commitment to political reform which was partially responsible for the party receiving my humble endorsement in the previous general election and the actions of the Taoiseach in the appointment of Mr. John McNulty to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art. While Mr. McNulty is probably well qualified for the position by virtue of his previous curriculum vitae, it is likely that he is wholly unqualified for it by virtue of his inability to see the job through. I also pay tribute to Ms Samantha Long who did an honourable thing in resigning her membership of the Fine Gael Party on this issue.

I have ruled that issue out of order. Senators may not speak about people outside the House who are not able to defend themselves. In addition, the individuals concerned do not have any role in the matter.

One of them was a candidate for election to the Seanad.

She has no role in this matter, as the Senator is well aware.

I fail to see how it could be out of order to pay tribute to someone. We have paid tribute to all manner of people, from farmers to GAA players to local advocates, throughout the three and a half years I have been a Senator and none of these tributes has ever been ruled out of order. The only thing that appears to be out of order is that it is probably creates an odour for the leadership of Fine Gael that these unfortunate realities are being brought home to roost in this Chamber where they are most relevant.

It is essential that the Taoiseach provide a commitment and firm timeline for his plans for Seanad reform. His behaviour towards the Seanad has been regrettable from day one. His pre-election promise to hold a referendum to abolish the Seanad was valid and an honourable question was put to the people and defeated. However, the manner in which the campaign was conducted was not so honourable. People sent a clear message that there was a real and palpable need for Seanad reform. I was delighted, therefore, when Mr. McDermott of Young Fine Gael stated one of the things that needed to be fixed was the onerous panel system. I fully agree with him that it should be abolished. Why can we not have a reform based on universal franchise to a co-equal Chamber?

I propose to refer in passing to an extraordinary coincidence yesterday in respect of two sets of visitors to the House. The first visitors were representatives of the Amahdi branch of Islam, a widely persecuted and admired near-pacifist movement within the Islamic community whose members suffer terrible persecution in many parts of the world because of the perception that they depart somewhat from what some would regard as the orthodoxy of that peaceful religion. They were followed by representatives of the Iranian Parliament who visited the House as part of the Iran-Ireland parliamentary friendship group. I hope the visit provided an opportunity to raise the issue of the systematic persecution of people for their religious beliefs in the Islamic Republic of Iran. I refer, in particular, to the Baha'i minority whose persecution extends to not being allowed to practise their faith and being regarded not as a religious but as a political movement which has resulted in the judicial deaths of several hundred of them. I ask that Senators be given an opportunity, during the time remaining to us, to invite representatives of oppressed religious minorities in different parts of the world, be they members of the Baha'i faith, Amahdi Muslims or Coptic Christians in Egypt, to give us a flavour of how this problem is panning out.

Many more questions have been raised about the business of the Seanad by-election, notably a compelling interview with Mr. Gerard Craughwell on Newstalk this morning. I urge anyone who has not heard the interview to listen to it. What has happened in this case almost amounts to a fraud, of which Mr. Craughwell was the victim. Senator Darragh O'Brien has proposed that the Seanad use its powers under the inquiries Act to launch a full and comprehensive investigation into what took place this week. This presents a challenge to Senators who must to decide whether they wish to talk about this issue or find out exactly what took place. It is essential that the Minister and the Taoiseach come before the House to discuss the issue.

Why does the website of the Companies Registration Office not feature any information on changes in the directors of the Irish Museum of Modern Art? No change has been registered with the office and its website does not give any indication of a change in directors. Apparently, the individual in question used his alleged directorship, which is not recorded in the Companies Registration Office as far as I can see, to qualify himself, belts and braces, for selection on the Cultural and Educational Panel. If the Seanad is to take itself seriously, it must carry out a full investigation to ascertain what took place.

The fault for this issue lies not with Mr. McNulty but with his superiors in the Fine Gael Party and the Government who decided that this appointment needed to be made if Mr. McNulty was to qualify for the panel. He would have qualified in any case; that is not the issue. The issue concerns the shenanigans that took place at senior levels of the Government in appointing someone to the board of an important museum for a number of weeks. I question whether the appointment has been made or is valid. Senator Paul Coghlan has stated there are 15 board positions available in the IMMA. The latest Companies Registration Office printout lists 14 members of the IMMA board. How did the Minister allegedly appoint two people to the board? We will not get answers to these questions without a full investigation of the matter.