Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister, the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, and the backroom people in the Civil Service who facilitated the Bill being brought so quickly to the House. Often this work is not recognised. I recognise the diligent work done in bringing the Bill here so quickly.

Often the Chamber is quite empty when Deputies are speaking, but I know most Deputies use the televisions in their offices to listen in, as I did yesterday. I listened to Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett's call for us to default on the interest payable on the national debt. I was a little shocked, but I suppose I should not have been; I certainly was not surprised. Since he came into the House the Deputy has been more interested in protest than people. We have worked extremely hard to right the finances of the country. The debt about which the Deputy spoke is approximately €200 billion, of which one fifth, or €40 billion, is tied to the banking crisis. This is a huge amount of money and I am as angry as anyone else about it. Anglo Irish Bank has a role in this regard and I hope it will be dealt with in the manner it should be in due course.

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