Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the call of my colleague, Senator MacSharry, for an urgent debate on the mortgage issue which I raised yesterday with the Deputy Leader. While there has been plenty of activity on the part of the Government in this regard there has been no action. Senator Coghlan hopes that the Central Bank will do the job of Government and instruct the banks to do something to help struggling mortgage holders. The banks will do only one thing, namely, strive to make a profit. Helping people is not in their remit. It is the Government's job to help struggling mortgage holders. It needs to legislate in this regard and to do so immediately.

I call on the Leader to provide time for a debate on the issue of food and food protection for the consumer given the current scandal of the detection of horsemeat in processed food. There is also a need for discussion on the additives which, under EU law, are permitted to be included in processed foods. MSG, one of the preservatives most widely used by food producers, is known to cause obesity, which as my colleagues involved in the all-party committee which met in the Seanad will know, is one of the greatest problems facing this country. Currently, one in five Irish children under three years of age is obese and one in three adults will be obese within a number of years.

I note that the NATO chief has invited Ireland to co-operate on operations and the Government's invitation to a large number of people to come to Ireland to speak on greater European integration. While Catherine Day referred recently to "more Europe" rather than "federal Europe" I believe the latter is what she meant. The NATO chief now invites Ireland to collaborate. We all know what happens to collaborators.