Shane Ross (Independent)

Senator White's comment is fair but this remains a valid question. The world's two great economies, Europe and the United States, are moving at different speeds. We must ask whether the great European expressions which Senator Ormonde discussed and to which we pay tribute, such as proportionality and subsidiarity, are in some way stifling the European economy or whether the ideal of a social economy may somehow suppress European development and growth. This issue has not been addressed in this House. We must then ask how Ireland benefits economically. Ireland apparently benefited from both the European and the US economies. We benefit greatly from the European economy due, I suppose, to low interest rates. This country has boomed for the past seven or eight years, partially because low interest rates have allowed people to borrow large sums of money.