Last Friday saw the launch of a new golf course at Adare Manor in Adare, County Limerick. It was also the launch of the J.P. McManus Pro Am 2020. When the previous pro am was held in 2010, it raised almost €50 million for charities across the mid-west. I compliment Mr. McManus and his team of volunteers who are involved in organising the pro am.

Rory McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Pádraig Harrington and Shane Lowry attended on Friday and played 18 holes of golf. Approximately 5,000 spectators were at the launch and witnessed an exhibition of golf. Mr. McManus also announced that he hoped to host the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in 2026. This proposition was backed by all four of the golfers who were present on the day.

The Ryder Cup was last held in Ireland in 2006. I ask the Leader to speak to the Taoiseach and to the relevant Ministers so that we can have a whole-of-government approach to bringing the Ryder Cup to Adare. Mr. McManus has put a lot of work into his bid application. He has submitted that bid and it is important that the Government would support him in order to promote not only golf, but also Ireland itself.

I note that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, indicated today that he will be opposing new bonuses for senior figures in the banks. The proposal to reintroduce bonuses at AIB is disgraceful and I welcome the fact that the Minister will be opposing it.

I ask the Leader to invite the Minister to the House to debate the issue of tax reliefs. If we are looking at a situation where banks are seeking to restore a bonus culture against the background, for example, of AIB making €1.9 billion in pre-tax profits, then we need to reconsider the fact that they can write off current profits against past losses. It is not appropriate that the construction industry, which is also making substantial profits again, and the banks are able to effectively avoid paying tax and avoid contributing to the State and to the citizens who bailed them out. I would like the Minister to go further than opposing bankers' bonuses and to re-examine the tax reliefs or write offs that are being enjoyed by the banks.

I join Senator Humphreys and the Cathaoirleach in noting the passing of former Senator John Carroll who served in this House between 1981 and 1982. He also made an extraordinary contribution to the trade union movement over almost five decades, with SIPTU and prior to that as vice president and president of the ITGWU. He made a huge contribution in the areas of wage bargaining and payment systems in this State.

As well as his work for the trade union movement, he was also an activist in other areas. He was one of the people who led the campaigning in respect of Carnsore Point and the question of nuclear power. This is an issue of great concern today in the context of the proposed Hinckley Point nuclear power station in the UK, on which Senator Grace O'Sullivan has worked extensively.

I wanted to add my voice to those commemorating John Carroll and the contribution he made to national life. As we note the contribution of trade unionists and the trade union movement to the public good in Ireland and in the context of my call for a debate on taxation and tax reliefs, we need to restore the tax relief for trade union membership, given that other professional bodies enjoy that tax relief.

I wish to move an amendment to the Order of Business. I propose that we take No. 17 on the Order Paper before No. 1. We know that LGBT people form loving, stable and committed relationships equivalent to heterosexual families and the people's support for the civil marriage equality referendum was recognition of that fact. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that we can change or eliminate sexual orientation, although there is evidence to say that we can self-label our sexual orientation. However, the outcomes are temporary and always unpredictable. I want to thank the 20 Senators from all sides of this House who have co-signed the Prohibition of Conversion Therapies Bill 2018. This is a Bill that will prohibit conversion therapy as a deceptive and harmful act or practice against a person's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

A couple of month's ago the European Parliament passed a motion that reads as follows: "The European Parliament [...] welcomes initiatives prohibiting LGBTI conversion therapies and banning the pathologisation of trans identities and urges all Member States to adopt similar measures that respect and uphold the right to gender identity and gender expression". Malta has legislated to prohibit the practice of conversion therapy, as have nine American states. The UN Committee Against Torture has expressed its concern over the dangerous and discredited practice. There are organisations providing this service in Ireland. However, the Irish Council for Psychotherapy has stated that efforts to change, manipulate or reverse sexual orientation and-or gender identity through psychological therapies are unethical, in accordance with its guidelines. The State should adopt that position and apply it legislatively. The Prohibition of Conversion Therapies Bill does so.

In terms of LGBT people's experiences of mental health services, a survey by Trinity College and UCD was published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing in 2014. That survey noted many negative experiences of mental health services, with 66% of respondents experiencing an assumption that they were heterosexual. A full 29% of respondents experienced a negative reaction when they disclosed their LGBT identity, with 21% reporting comments to the effect that their LGBT identity was "just a phase". Crucially, 13% were advised that their sexual orientation could be changed to a heterosexual one.

Brazil was one of the first countries in the world to prohibit conversion therapy but that decision was overturned recently. Brazilians, more than any other non-EU nationals, come to study in Ireland in large numbers and their influence has been felt and welcomed among our LGBT community. Ireland must be a beacon of hope for people everywhere and it is in that context that I am proposing that we amend the Order of Business and take No. 17 before No. 1.

I support Senator Maria Byrne's call for the Government to support the bid by J.P. McManus to bring the Ryder Cup to Ireland in 2026. We have been very lucky in this country to have had people like Dr. Michael Smurfit and J.P. McManus to drive and promote golf in this country. There are 420 golf courses in Ireland. Indeed, there are more golf courses per head of population here than in any other country in the world. Ireland is also the cheapest place in the world to play golf.

I am delighted that Mr. McManus has decided to put in a bid to host the Ryder Cup in 2026 but he needs the support of the Government. I support Senator Byrne's call for the Government, from the Taoiseach down, to get behind Mr. McManus in his bid to bring the Ryder Cup to Adare Manor in the mid-west. The manor is surrounded by a good road network and there is an airport nearby. It has all of the facilities needed to host such an event.

The last time the Ryder Cup was held here was 2006. In 1997 and 1998 the then Government rowed in behind Dr. Smurfit's efforts to bring the competition to the K Club. A lot of work and advance planning has to be done and we are lucky that Mr. McManus is willing to put his money, his property and his facilities forward in a bid to host what is one of the biggest golfing events in the world, which takes place every two years. There is a great need to disperse tourists when they come here, to encourage them to head west from our eastern seaboard and hosting the Ryder Cup will put us on the world stage. I fully support Senator Byrne's remarks.