Mary O'Rourke (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

I will not be here at 8.30 p.m. In the one minute left, I wish to talk about an issue raised by Deputy Stanton. I also noticed a piece by Professor Morgan Kelly in The Irish Times today, calling on the banks to default on their debts and the Government to renege on the State guarantee. More than a year after the collapse of Lehmann Brothers investment bank in the US and the meltdown in Iceland, it is extraordinary that some so-called experts cannot see that widespread default is a recipe for ruin.

I wish to note progress. The debate will be taken up by somebody else at 8.30 p.m., but I will not be here.

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