John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I ask the Leader to agree to a debate on commodity prices which continue to rise significantly. Many commodities are bought and sold in much the same way as stocks. The person who buys futures in wheat or corn never sees the commodity and would not know what to do with it if they got it.

If we had been forewarned about sub-prime lending, we could have done something about it. However, we have been forewarned about this. The price of oil is increasing to $129 per barrel and the price of rice, wheat, corn and other commodities continue to increase. It appears part of the reason for this is that market traders will no longer trade in currencies and have turned to commodities. This is serious at any time, but at a time of food shortages it is dangerous and I call for a debate on this issue. I do not know how we can deal with it because it is outside our jurisdiction but, notwithstanding that, we should raise an objection to it.