I also condemn the criminal damage done to the First World War soldier statue in St. Stephen's Green. While we can be very upset, it certainly does not reflect the mood of the people. Over the past few months and weeks of commemoration, the generosity shown by the people and politicians across all parties has at last shown respect to men and women from our country who died between 1914 and 1918. These mindless idiots should go away because they are not welcome. Their views are not welcome and are out of touch with the commemoration and respect that has been shown in the past few months.

Tá súil agam go ngabhfaidh an Cathaoirleach mo leithscéal go bhfuil mo shrón plúchta inniu. I raise the plight of school secretaries. Everyone in the Chamber fully appreciates the great work school secretaries do throughout the country. Many schools could not operate without them. The problem we have is there is a two-tier structure for school secretaries. There are approximately 3,500 of them throughout the country and 10% are employed by the Department of Education and Skills and enjoy decent terms and conditions. Unfortunately, 90% do not enjoy such luxuries. They are paid out of school funds which are also used to pay the school caretaker and other expenses. As we all know, funds for schools are very limited. The problem the 90% have is that when it comes to school holidays, they are forced to sign on for social welfare. They do not enjoy any sick leave entitlements. Their salaries are also very poor. On average, they earn slightly over €12,500 per annum. It is something that needs to be addressed. I ask that the Minister for Education and Skills comes to the House to map out a road plan for us so that 90% of school secretaries, who we all agree are doing an excellent job, are paid a decent wage and have decent terms and conditions for the more than decent job they do.

I join with others who have mentioned the damage to the sculpture in St. Stephen's Green this morning. When I joined the British Army and arrived in the depot of the Royal Irish Rangers, one of the things one had to learn was the battle honours of the regiment. The battle honours of the regiment included the battle honours of the Connaught Rangers. It included the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the Royal Munster Fusiliers and all the great southern Irish regiments. I have never been any less an Irish man that anyone in this room. Like thousands of other Irish men, I served under the Crown. The damage last night was carried out by thugs who see themselves as more Irish than me and more Irish than the thousands like me who served in the British Army. I was delighted to hear a member of Sinn Féin condemn the behaviour this morning.

The Acting Leader will be aware of the work being done by Vice President Timmermans in the European Union with respect to subsidiarity and proportionality. It strikes me as rather odd that Europe is trying to drive decision-making to the lowest possible level and in Ireland we are trying to centralise it. It is something we should explore in the House given the majority of our electorate are members of local authorities throughout the country. I wonder why we feel the need to take away from local authorities the powers they have and strip them of powers. It has been ongoing for some period of time. The Timmermans report has been published and everybody in this House should get their hands on a copy of it and read it. It would be in order to have a debate in the House to discuss it. I ask the Acting Leader to bring it to the attention of the Leader to see if we can organise it with the appropriate Minister.