Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

It is against the wishes of the employees and will give rise to job losses. We need our ideology to favour pragmatism at this difficult time.

There is an air of unreality in the comments made in the debate on financial issues in recent weeks. I commend Senator Norris on his insight in stating it is time for authoritative action to be taken, particularly in the face of sectional interests. If we are to promote sectional interests when every Government in the world is implementing extreme measures to meet the unprecedented challenges posed by the financial crisis and if we fail to respond adequately to those challenges, we will consign a generation of young Irish people, who may be well educated, to unemployment and emigration.