Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Senator Henry considers him to be among the best. I am reluctant to use the word "consumerism", as criticism of consumerism seems to blame the working class for getting their hands on the goods that the ruling class always had anyway. The papacy and the other ruling orders of 100 years ago lived in a life of ostentatious luxury. The fact that ordinary people can now do that should not be a problem. However, the sophistication of modern marketing makes people more aware of the negative side of their lives.

Some of the manifestations of our successful economic model are quite destructive. For example, we often say that we must reward effort. The Government parties and even the Opposition claim that part of the job of taxation is to reward effort. However, we do not reward effort but success. Someone can work extremely hard but be unsuccessful and be branded a failure. The horrible word "loser" is part of modern parlance.

I am pleased to read from the Minister of State's script that the numbers are beginning to stabilise. We need to state that we have an obligation to protect our young people from many of the worst forces — be it alcohol advertising or the more insidious suggestions of their own inadequacy. All adolescents, from the most confident to the most self-effacing, feel inadequate and it is only a question of how they present that to the outside world. We must ensure that the political and economic systems do nothing to manipulate that inadequacy. We must put the protective arms of our society around young people at their most vulnerable.