The story told in the chamber yesterday was simple and moving. The central figures were a pregnant woman and her partner, for whom there was no room in the metaphorical inn.
But this was no tale of an impending birth in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. It was the exposition of a couple's plight in the Dublin of 1997, and it was highlighted on a day when senators gave legal effect to the £12 billion-plus cost of providing departmental services.
There was a festive mood at the start of the final pre-Christmas sitting day. But the atmosphere became sombre when Mr Paschal Mooney (FF) renewed his request for a debate on homelessness.
Those who had been watching the RTE television news on Thursday could not but have been appalled at the interview with a couple who were literally living on the side of the street in the centre of Dublin, he said.
The woman was pregnant and there was no prospect of their getting a house before Christmas.
The indications were that they would have to wait until the baby was born before the authorities would consider them for a flat.
Supporting his call, Mrs Avril Doyle (FG) said giving everyone a roof over their heads should be within the grasp of the Government. The House leader, Mr Donie Cassidy, promised that the issue would be given an airing early in the next session.
Oireachtas members should defer making returns under the Ethics in Public Office Act until they had a clear indication as to whether the law was constitutional, suggested Mr Joe O'Toole (Ind).
A question had been raised concerning the constitutionality of the ethics legislation. TDs and senators were required under the Act to make certain returns early in the new year. He believed they should get advice on the matter. It would be a terrible thing if they were to do something which they later found out would trammel their constitutional rights.
It was wrong that Ireland was apparently the most expensive place in Europe, if not in the world, when it came to the cost of the imprisonment of offenders, said Mrs Avril Doyle (FG).