Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I attended the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday at which I co-sponsored with Senator Norris a motion on Tibet calling for dialogue and on which there was unanimous agreement. However, when it came to the issue of a boycott of the Olympic opening ceremony, there was no firm agreement. Some members felt politicians should boycott the ceremony while others called for athletes to be encouraged to boycott it.

I heard the British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown, will not attend the opening ceremony and that the French President, Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, has intimated that he too might not attend. I heard Pat Hickey of the Olympic Council of Ireland on the radio this morning. He is a man for whom I have a great amount of respect and he is vehemently opposed to a boycott by athletes.

People often say this House is not relevant but we need to have a debate on this issue, as the previous speaker said. This issue is very relevant to the people of Ireland and of the world. Will the Leader arrange a debate next week, if possible, on a boycott of the opening ceremony?

This week's The Economist contains a report by the International Monetary Fund on house prices. It states that of all the countries at which it looked, Ireland's houses are the most overvalued by 30%. Many commentators have forecasted that this may lead to a market correction. The number of people getting into difficulty repaying their mortgages is on the increase. One in six people with the mortgage company Start are at least two months in arrears.

I was in London in the 1990s at the time of the property crash there. I saw cases of people having to hand back the keys of their houses because they could not afford the debt in which they found themselves. Will the Leader impress on the Minister that it is vital there is adequate information on debt and restructuring so that if people get into difficulty with their mortgage repayments, they have adequate information?

Today is a wonderful day for this island. It marks the tenth anniversary of peace which was achieved only through the hard work and sacrifice of many people. I read the Taoiseach's article in this morning's newspaper in which he outlined some of the many benefits that have arisen from that peace. It certainly has improved the quality of life of people throughout this island. We now have real power sharing in operation, cross-Border institutions in place and a police force which has the support of everyone in the North. There have been real economic benefits for the people of the North. For instance, in Newry at the height of the Troubles, one in three people did not have a job whereas today 49 out of 50 people are in work. Peace has brought real benefits.

I pay tribute to people such as the Taoiseach for their work in achieving that. At the time, Tony Blair said he felt the hand of history on his shoulder. He was wrong about many things but he was right about that.