Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

In the context of Senator John Paul Phelan's request for a debate on the economy, I renew my request for a debate on the social partnership agreement in the course of which we could deal with matters such as inflation which is not expected to rise this year. It has been slowly, perhaps much too slowly, declining since 2000 and heading down towards a rate of 4% or less. One month's figures should not be taken as a sign of a trend.