Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

The concept that all power, responsibility and wisdom resides in one person or in a government is alien to this republic and has no place in democracy. All Senators participating in the debate brought forward ideas of how things might work. On Monday or Tuesday of this week, The Irish Times and the Irish Independent covered very extensively the current crisis in the motor industry. Is there any way the Government could consider reducing VRT on cars by perhaps 10% or 20%? We should also examine stamp duty. If we cannot reduce it, we could consider not collecting it all at once but spreading it over a number of years in order to help young people buy new homes or help others move up. It would also help the real estate industry.

Other speakers referred to VAT. Could we have a serious attempt to reduce VAT? Although I am sorry to mention names, on a recent programme I heard Ben Dunne discussing the importance of getting cash back into the economy. People are afraid to spend money. There is still money out there; it did not disappear overnight. We need to get people spending again. There is an old saying in this country that once the builders and farmers are doing well, the country will always be on the up.