Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

He is not listening to the people. As 19,000 additional people are affected today, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment must come before the House to discuss unemployment and the loss of our manufacturing base.

I rise primarily to ask the Deputy Leader to facilitate a debate on social work cover in Cork city and generally, in light of the report in today's edition of the Irish Examiner that a 15 year old boy spent two nights in a Garda cell in Mallow and has been waiting for five days for social workers to visit him and his family. While that may be good enough for the Green Party's Ireland, it is not good enough for the Ireland and Cork I represent. I ask for a debate in this regard. The Deputy Leader may make smart comments but I represent people in this House.