Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

When will the local government Bill be before the House? The Bill will give effect to the €200 levy on holiday homes, private rented accommodation and second houses announced on budget day. According to the schedule, it will be published some time in 2009. This gives us an indication of where the Government parties are at. Instead of taking in the €88 million that would result from the levy, they have sat on their hands for the past five months on this issue. We did not witness the same reluctance when it came to removing aids from the most vulnerable children in our schools or taking pensions off those who built the country in the 1940s and 1950s or collecting the 1% levy off those earning more than the minimum wage. Is it the Government's intention to bring the legislation before the House? Will those who are among the most wealthy in society and who can afford such luxuries be allowed to go on without paying their way?

I commend Senators O'Toole and Ó Murchú on raising the issue of the awakening the west report last week. I had the privilege of being the rapporteur for the committee for this report, which deals with the needs of the west from west Cork to Donegal. I have called on a number of occasions since I was elected to the House for a debate on the west and regional development, which has not been granted. While we need to discuss burning issues, we also need to discuss issues that affect the regions. The economic downturn is having a greater effect on the west than anywhere else. That can be seen in the CSO figures, which highlight the number of people on the live register, and in the Government's investment plans, such as the sustainable transport initiative which does not mention the west. Please God, the economic recovery will happen sooner rather than later and the west needs to be in a position to benefit. I support my colleagues who raised this issue last week and I call again for a debate on the report on the west, which was adopted by all parties at the Oireachtas committee.

I refer to the discussion on the banks and the need to get our act together. We are hearing the Government is thinking about imposing cuts on high earners in the banks. We are hearing it is considering a two-year moratorium on home repossessions. We are hearing it is considering that lending is made available to small businesses. These are the proposals that my party and others on this side of the House argued for when we dealt with the issue in the autumn. These are the same proposals we made when dealing with the Finance Bill a few months ago. The Government is behaving in a reckless manner by not listening to the concrete——