David Norris (Independent)

I support the calls of various Members for a debate on the question of integrity in politics and the current situation regarding one Member of this House. While Senator Callely can be invited to make a statement, he cannot be compelled to do so. He was appointed by the Taoiseach, not elected, and I do not believe the Taoiseach has the power to remove him, although he may remove the whip. A statement was made yesterday, but it was meaningless, vapid, self-serving and worthless. The facts should be clear - the Senator either lived in Cork or in Dublin. Those are the stark alternatives and it should not be beyond anybody's intelligence to establish the facts, despite the attempt to confuse the issue by using words such as "abode", "residence" and so forth. I hope this debate will take place. It would be appropriate.

I welcome the fact that the European Union is, at last, addressing the issue of the ratings agencies Standard & Poor's, Fitch and Moody's. I have been calling for this for the last 18 months but have been blithely ignored by the media. Some of the media finally appear to be catching up, but I wish they had done so earlier. It appeared to be the perfectly logical thing to do and I hope the European Union will be successful in its efforts to contain the damage done by these discredited institutions.