I sound a warning on the issue of reform of the Seanad. This morning I heard about the scrutiny of European Union legislation. At our meeting I warned about this as it could be extremely dangerous. People are being given the impression that legislation of the European Union will be scrutinised without anything being clearly defined. There is an enormous amount of material spewed out every week from the Europe Union and if we set ourselves up as a monitor and a watchdog, we will fail and the public will rub our noses in that failure. The other issue is that of speaking rights. Elected Members of this House have speaking rights. Others can and should be invited, but they do not have speaking rights.

Today is Bloomsday and it is wonderful. I have attended three or four events already and the city is throbbing with energy. So many places not mentioned in Ulysses have small groups of people wearing straw boaters and actors are performing. We had the Lord Mayor for breakfast in the James Joyce Centre and I attended the wonderful Westland Row community breakfast party before travelling to Sandymount Green. Joyce's power of reputation helped to save North Great George's Street, as one of the crucial buildings, No. 35, was identified. It is now the centre of the Joycean ménage in Dublin.

That brings me to the inner city. I note that the Taoiseach spent some time there, which I very much welcome. It was about bloody time. The north inner city of Dublin has been grotesquely neglected throughout my entire lifetime, including when the Prime Minister of the country, former Deputy Bertie Ahern, represented the constituency and did sweet damn all for it. Apparently, the Minister responsible for tourism, transport and whatever else you are having has decided to demand that Stepaside police station be reopened. That issue is on the agenda. I would like to hear the same said about Fitzgibbon Street Garda station. I was lied to in this House about it, as I was told it was being closed for refurbishment. That was rubbish; it was closed down. Now there are murders every second day of the week, while there is a drugs problem in the north inner city. We are down 136 gardaí, about which something must be done. What about the stripping of every decent thing from the north inner city and its replacement with down-market drug clinics that people would not have in Ballsbridge or other affluent suburbs in the country?

The late Tony Gregory was a great friend of mine and I remember the time when he initiated the debate on the Criminal Assets Bureau. He did not call it the CAB, but he said something had to be done to link income tax collection, the social welfare system and the Garda. Essentially, this was realised with the establishment of the CAB. After Veronica Guerin was shot, the then Government took the idea on board and claimed credit for it, but I made sure in this House that the late Tony Gregory was remembered. In concert with him in the Dáil, in this House I asked that the money taken by the CAB be reinvested in employment creation, housing provision and education services in the north inner city. It should be ring-fenced as it was bled from the veins of the most vulnerable people in the north inner city, but the Department of Finance squashed that suggestion. It is time for major reinvestment in the north inner city.

The Senator is blooming today.

Minus the straw boater.

There was an old defence in law, now long abolished, that if a person was caught in a pub or hostelry more than three miles from home, he or she was a bona fide traveller. The man I will call next is a bona fide traveller; his home is the furthest from the House. It is against the rules somewhat, but I will allow him to speak for one minute. I also know that he is facing surgery.