I echo what the leader of the Fianna Fáil group has stated about the proposal in respect of No. 3.

I propose that No. 1 be deleted from the Order of Business.

Hear, hear

I am sorry, but I did not hear what the Senator said. What is he proposing?

I am proposing that the Order of Business be amended by the deletion of No. 1. I do so because the opportunity is being taken by the Government today to avail of the visit of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Ms Nancy Pelosi, to pull a stunt. I object strongly to what is happening. Others in the House will propose amendments to the Order of Business to deal with that issue. I am conscious of this, but in the past in this House the Taoiseach told us that he was ending the use of the guillotine, yet today an attempt is being made to tear up that commitment.

I want to deal with a number of other matters. Yesterday, on the Order of Business, a number of colleagues spoke about the destruction by fire of the roof of Notre Dame cathedral. In that context, it is worth remembering that the building will be rebuilt and that we should not go over the top in a kind of Princess Diana moment in claiming that there is worldwide grief because of this event. The building can and will be restored. It was restored very heavily before in the 19th century. The spire we all saw fall was a 19th century addition to the original fabric of the building by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. I have no doubt that it is possible to repair such structures, looking at the fantastic work done in the restoration of St. Mel's Cathedral in Longford after its appalling destruction by fire.

Hear, hear.

If the Government is of a mind to make a contribution, it would be appropriate to make some contribution of money to the restoration fund and it should be done in that spirit. Buildings are buildings and it was not the equivalent of the 9/11 tragedy. There is no need for cross-European mourning. The editorial today in The Irish Times makes a very good point. There is a need for us all to check our buildings of similar antiquity, even those which have been heavily restored, like the two Church of Ireland cathedrals in Dublin.

We must make sure that our fire precautions for major buildings of this kind are up to the approved modern standards. I ask that the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works should come to this House, tell us the lessons he intends to learn from the fire in Paris and give us an assurance that lessons are going to be learned from it and we are not going to have equivalent destruction of our architectural heritage and iconic monuments due to a lack of taking reasonable steps to prevent fires from destroying them in the manner that happened in Notre Dame.