John Ellis (Fianna Fail)

Senator O'Toole raised the issue of fuel costs. There is a need for a debate in this House on the cost of all fuel, petrol, diesel, home heating oil, gas and so on, because a cartel is operating in this country. It may tell us that it gained 7% but it does not tell us the margins it takes before the product lands in this country for distribution. There is a need for a debate on that. We all know about the tax take and it is above board. Everybody accepts that we have to pay taxes and that has always been the case.

I would like to be associated with Senator Quinn's remarks because there will be more shocks in the coming months than we realised in the budget, especially in light of the returns from October which indicate that we are in a far worse position than we were previously. If something needs to be done to address that it should be done in the context of the Finance Bill rather than having another budget some time in 2009 if the revenue take does not improve.