Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

Will the Leader ask the Minister for Finance to come into the House to explain why we pay our taxes? She should also ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to be in attendance in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery as he seems to think people who build houses should pay for such things as swimming pools and community services. I understood these are paid for out of taxation. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government appears to have no idea of reality. He talks about ring-fencing development levies, but we all know they will disappear into a black hole to be used to fund other shortfalls in local government.

Many Senators have called for a debate on stem cell research. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, which may be affected by future stem cell research. People are living longer. While this is good news it presents difficulties. As people live longer they are more prone to suffer from such diseases. We need to debate this matter now and not in 30 years' time. Such a debate might be combined with the debate on stem cell research.