Joe O'Toole (Independent)

We asked the Leader yesterday, last week and the previous week to deliver on his promise to have regular discussions on the economy which were to take place not less often than once a month. We are still waiting for that debate. This should not be taking up time on the Order of Business but issues arise. The Government is addressing a matter that is all over the newspapers and is of concern to everybody in the country but we are not talking about it. This cannot be right. If the Leader cannot get the proper Minister in, he should get some Minister.

I do not understand what is going on, nor does anybody else. Specifically, I do not understand why we are recapitalising at this time. I know what we are trying to achieve but nobody has explained to me how recapitalising the banks will send out the right message and prove things will return to operating properly. As we are all aware, the American banks and the UK banks were recapitalised but it does not seem to have made a great difference. If we are simply recapitalising so the banks carry on doing what they did before, I do not see it is an advantage to the Irish taxpayer. However, I am not saying I am right about this question because I do not know the answer.

I have been trying to check with small businesses as to how badly they are being treated by the banks. I am coming across situations where people are getting loans and mortgages and where businesses are being allowed to continue. I just do not know the facts in all of this. I know other people are in serious trouble but this is because of bad risks that were taken earlier. What exactly is the clear picture? What are the demands? We know what small businesses need and we know the support to which they are entitled and which they should get. How much are they getting or not getting? Are the banks telling us what is going on at that level? If they will not tell us, let us carry out a survey of people in business to find out what is happening.

On another issue, I raise for the nth time a request that the Leader would deliver on the promise for a debate on education. We have a situation where issues of special education are being completely ignored. Newcomer children with language difficulties are not getting the support they need.

I want to make one simple fact available to the House. Members on the Government side are being told by their Minister about reducing class sizes by one. That does not happen. Members should take this image away with them. A school with 60 pupils and three teachers has a class ratio of 20:1 per class. If one teacher and one pupil are taken away, there are 59 pupils for two teachers. The ratio moves from 20:1 to 30:1, which is why people are upset. It is unfair that Members on the Government side are told at their parliamentary party meetings that there is simply a change of one because it never happens that way. There is always a significant impact, particularly on small schools. This will be the death of schools in rural Ireland.