Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I fully agree with what has been said on this issue and in particular with what Senator Ó Murchú said. Over the years I have said that this is the wrong time for a debate on Northern Ireland because intemperate language can do a great deal of harm when discussions are going on. I now believe the time is right for such a debate. So much is happening. Now that an agreement has been published, and because it appears there are some doubts about part of that agreement which did not initially appear in public, it is time for a debate. Intemperate language in the past caused harm when negotiations were going on, but this is the right time to discuss the issues.

On another matter, my attention was drawn yesterday to the absence of an opportunity for unused coins to be donated to charity or used for some other purpose. According to figures I was given yesterday, every person in Britain has 350 small coins either in jam jars or down the back of sofas or somewhere else. I read that when Finland issued the euro currency, it decided not to issue one cent and two cent coins. Perhaps the proposal should be put to the Minister for Finance, or to whoever makes the relevant decisions, that in the new year we should consider whether we value those coins. I am told that in Britain, more than half of the coins issued, 13 billion out of a total of 22 billion, are lying unused. We could perhaps give our coins to charity or decide not to issue one cent and two cent coins in the future, and do so without giving rise to the dangers of inflation. I do not know about other Members but I do not see the younger generation using these coins in the future. They seem to have no regard for these coins as they leave them behind, or on the ground. Let us consider abolishing them or finding some other solution.