Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I am happy to be interrupted on that topic, a Chathaoirligh. Whenever people stand up and say that we should not be doing this or that, I would like to hear them outline what we should be doing instead. I do not hear that and did not hear it today.

I was in Brussels yesterday and I was shaken because the group I chaired, which was made up of representatives of 18 European states, discussed the financial problem as it affects commerce. As I listened to the proposals put forward I realised we face a much bigger problem than any other state, with the exception of Iceland and Hungary, which also have problems. I do not think we realise the huge difficulty we face and the Government has lost an opportunity in that regard. At the time of the budget last month we were ready to accept what would have been very difficult measures, but we did not take that opportunity and it may be lost for the citizens of this nation to accept the tough steps that we will be required to take. Those steps could involve a short, sharp shock, but there would be a willingness to accept them. To take one aspect, the need to do something about the expenditure on the public service, I believe we would have been willing to take a cut in pay for one year if it solved the problem.

Another point to which attention has not been drawn, other than a reference to it last week, is the performance related bonuses being paid to the public sector. I was jolted to discover that almost everybody in the public sector who was entitled to a performance-related bonus got it. I believe we are willing to take a short, sharp shock in that regard if we know that it will deal with the problem.

Senator Buttimer is not correct. He is concerned about grocery stores in Ireland not being Irish owned. Dunnes Stores is 100% Irish owned, Superquinn is 100% Irish owned and SuperValu is 100% Irish owned and, to the best of my knowledge, is owned by people who live in Ireland and pay their taxes here. I want to put the record straight on that in case there is a misunderstanding in that regard.