Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I join other colleagues in calling for a debate on the economy. I especially support Senator Frances Fitzgerald's point that the most urgent item on our agenda is today's ESRI report. It confirms everything that we had privately suspected and feared for some time. Owing to the domestic factors highlighted therein, we need to know urgently the Government's proposals for our way out of this. Have the highlighted talks between the Government and the banks taken place? If not, when are they taking place and what is intended to come from them? There will be complete stagnation if the banks freeze up, so there must be agreement. The Government and the banks must be on the one wavelength, with an agreed agenda between them. That is the most immediate of the urgent matters that need to be dealt with.

I agree with Senator Quinn that we must be realistic. We do not want to talk ourselves into anything worse than what might happen but the ugly truth is that cranes are disappearing off the skylines throughout the country and building sites are shutting down. Unfortunately, that is the reality on 24 June.