I second Senator Ó Clochartaigh's amendment regarding Catalonia, and I will tell the House why. I spent a week on a private visit to Barcelona that included the day of the referendum. I witnessed what happened first hand. I am not interested in getting too involved in the internal affairs of Spain or other jurisdictions, but I will share with the House that I witnessed intimidation and severe violence against innocent citizens of the European Union. It is incumbent on the EU and all of its other member states to at least articulate their concern about the violence of that day. Every day, I made a point of engaging at some level with various activists in the referendum. Whether it was official or unofficial is an internal matter, but business people, many students from all of the five universities in Barcelona and thousands of ordinary people - men, women and children - with a particular view were there. They were behaving in a democratic way. They congregated at the city parliament. They wished to articulate a view in a peaceful way. It is not necessarily my view, but they wanted more autonomy within and control over their region. They wanted to send less tax to Madrid and retain it in their local economy. They wanted their unique culture to be respected and recognised. They wanted to play a real role in the self-determination of their people and their economy. These are fair and just causes.

It is a sad indictment of the EU and its member states-----

Hear, hear.

-----that they stood by and allowed such violence and anti-democratic behaviour to be carried out in the name of a cohesive, good and upstanding union. For that reason, it is important that we support the call for statements in the House next week. We have time in our schedule next Thursday. It would be a good time to have a debate.

Senator Ó Clochartaigh wants the debate today.

I am happy to go along with that.