Fiona O'Malley (Progressive Democrats)

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I listened to Senator McCarthy and I have no doubt he is very sincere in his concerns about those people he mentioned who took out mortgages based on certain levels of earnings. It is all very well to make the case for those people and he is right to do so, but just as important are the 145,000 people who have lost their jobs and who must also make mortgage repayments. Senator McCarthy is making an either-or case for people in the private sector or the public sector. The difficulty is that we face a very grave situation.

It has been very interesting to listen to the speakers. The contributions got better as they went along. Senator Quinn's contribution, in particular, was very good. Senator Callely followed it with a great contribution, but Senator Harris took the biscuit altogether with a terrific contribution. The case has been made for having somebody from the Seanad at the Cabinet table. I would like to see Senator Harris there because he is full of bright ideas about how to save money. He was also right in regard to this sense of a wartime spirit. Talking to people around the country, there is a palpable sense that they are prepared to have tax increases because they want——