John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I would like if Senator Boyle would practise a little bit of what he preaches in terms of his speech on responsible opposition and deal with responsible government. We saw a few examples of that this morning when a number of Fianna Fáil speakers mentioned turbary rights — I agree with them and support them fully in what they said — but yet we know that the Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, has a very different stance on that issue. Senator Butler has been consistent in raising the Health Service Executive and Senator Donohoe mentioned in his comments about how we have continuously handed over powers to new agencies and new bodies, yet when the Labour Party tabled a constructive motion on reviewing the HSE the Government voted it down. The motion was not even particularly controversial. It is pathetic that we have to come in here and be criticised for not being constructive. I urge the Government to be honest with people and to be constructive.

With a view to that I seek a constructive debate on housing and the funding of local authorities in terms of their housing output. I have been seeking such a debate for four months. I accept we are in constricted financial times currently but perhaps the Government can be constructive in telling people the situation on the ground and that there are significant cutbacks in house building.

I also seek a constructive debate on the schools building programme. The Government made a number of announcements in advance of the previous general election and it was recently discovered that although 26 primary schools around the country went out to tender for new school buildings they seem to have disappeared completely off the list and off the radar. No information is being given to boards of management as to when the new school buildings might commence. I would like to see constructive government in that regard.

I join with other speakers in calling for a debate on pricing. A wholly unsatisfactory debate took place recently with the National Consumer Agency in the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The response we were given by the agency is that people should shop around. That is an insufficient response and it is not acceptable. I agree with points made by previous speakers. Senator Hannigan referred to telephone tariffs and a number of speakers in recent days, including me, raised the issue of fuel prices, which beggars belief. The cost of fuel is a significant factor in supermarket prices but, as previous speakers mentioned this morning, how is it that in the North of Ireland where fuel is more expensive, the cost of supermarket goods is 30% cheaper across a range of products than they are on this part of the island. That does not make any sense. I urge the Leader to arrange debates on housing, the schools building programme with the new Minister for Education and Science, and most important of all, a discussion on prices, before we leave for the summer, especially given that we have an extra week's debate. We cannot afford to leave the House for the summer recess without having a debate on that important subject.

I agree with Senator Bacik. As a member of the Opposition it is very difficult to make arrangements if one does not have a clear timetable. Unlike Senator Bacik I do not have children but such information is important to ensure that one can attend all the relevant debates. It would be more appropriate if the Leader could possibly give timetables in advance or if the staff in the Seanad office could make that facility available to Members.