I remember well when some of us in this House made the case for the Tobin tax which would have yielded enough, from a tiny proportion of 0.1% of trade revenue, to facilitate spending to deal with the major issues facing the planet, including the elimination of preventable diseases, the provision of clean water and so on. We were told it was not possible and could not be done. However, in regard to the international banking arena, it suddenly becomes possible. The Minister of State should be making the case for the missing discourse. Ireland has a valuable reputation in regard to peacekeeping, overseas aid and so forth, a reputation that stands in such contrast to the degradation that was visited on us by a few chancers in the area of international banking. It is from Ireland and countries like Ireland that the case for the missing discourse might be expected.

See this item in context