Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

Before responding to the Order of Business, I offer the sympathies of the House to the Government Whip on the sudden death of his mother last night. It is a terrible time for any family when one of its number dies suddenly. Our thoughts and prayers are with Senator Wilson, his wife and family on this Ash Wednesday morning.

Senators Fitzgerald, O'Toole, Alex White, Coffey, Donohoe, Boyle, Leyden, Norris, Walsh, Healy Eames, Callely, Ó Murchú and Kelly expressed serious concerns regarding the current crisis in the banking system. This matter will be discussed during Private Members' time today. Friday's debate on the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009 will afford Members a further opportunity to express their views. We are all aware of yesterday's search of the headquarters of Anglo Irish Bank by the Garda fraud squad. Whatever can be done is being done by the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance. Everybody must be given an opportunity to prove their innocence so that natural justice can take its course. I welcome everything that is taking place to ensure the banking system is more transparent so that we all can say we had absolutely nothing to do with it. We, as parliamentarians, put procedures in place and those procedures must be adhered to. If they have to be amended or if new legislation is necessary, neither House will be found wanting, just as we were not found wanting in the past. I say this confidently on behalf of the Taoiseach and the Government.

I too welcome the magnificent state of the union address by the President of the United States, Mr. Barack Obama. God bless him, he is a welcome guest wherever he goes and a shining light to uplift the world. As I have said in this House before, Ireland can only hope to enjoy a corresponding recovery once the United States begins to lift its economy, followed by the United Kingdom. We have a population of 4.5 million and a small, open economy. We have gone down quickly but I am confident we will bounce back just as quickly. We have the best opportunity we have ever had in terms of infrastructural, educational and other tools available to us to meet the challenges of the future. We are facing a global crisis. There is no race to the bottom and we are not talking ourselves down. How uplifting it was to hear President Obama speak last night. I spoke to many friends this morning who waited up until 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. to hear his speech.

We all want to be uplifted. The extent of bad news is one of the reasons that newspaper sales are declining. It is lovely to be able to lift one's mood from time to time by tuning into a country music channel.