I support Senator Rónán Mullen and attended his briefing earlier. I have a very close friend in the Middle East, a Lebanese Christian, who stood for President of Lebanon in 1989 and received 25% of the vote. Christians are being persecuted, particularly in Iraq, as are Shi'ite Muslims, but because of the relatively small number of Christians in the area, they are being attacked in a particularly brutal manner. I would welcome the tabling of a motion to debate the issue.

I again call on the Minister for Justice and Equality to come before the House to discuss the establishment of a special task force to deal with dissident criminality. I am loath to call the people involved "dissidents". They are criminals masquerading as some type of weird republicans; in no way are they republicans. The Sinn Féin leader, Deputy Gerry Adams, has said Sinn Féin members have paid a price for standing with the police. I say, "Welcome to the club," because for 30 years the people of County Louth and other areas who stood with the police were subjected to intimidation at times. Nevertheless, I welcome anything Sinn Féin can do to support this new task force. Following the sad funeral of Garda Tony Golden, I spoke to the Garda Commissioner, Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan, and her senior people at the club rooms of Geraldines GFC in Haggardstown. I have every confidence in the Garda and we should not be prescriptive as to how that special task force is to be set up and operated because that is an operational matter.

Like the Acting Leader and others, I attended Senator Rónán Mullen’s briefing this morning. Too often Senators can become very focused on local issues, particularly those of us who hold the dual role of serving a constituency as well as being Senators. We can get caught up dealing with county, constituency and national issues. When we attend presentations such as that given earlier by Senator Rónán Mullen, we realise there are people who have the same beliefs as us, who come from a Christian ethos and who are suffering abuse and torture and who are being executed. I agree with and second the Senator’s proposal that an all-party motion to identify what is happening as genocide be tabled. We are experiencing a whole new world order. It is a dangerous new order. As a nation, we pride ourselves in believing in equality and respect for other religions and minority religions. Obviously, Catholicism is the majority religion in Ireland, but it is a minority religion in other countries and Christians are being persecuted. We should not sit down and do nothing or not say anything. The Acting Leader should place the issue on the agenda of the House without delay. I suggest the Leader’s office work with Senator Rónán Mullen and other party leaders to agree the wording. It would send a powerful message to the United Nations and other agencies that Seanad Éireann does not condone what is happening.