Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the fact that 400 prison places are to be provided at Portlaoise, Castlerea and Wheatfield prisons. They will come on stream shortly, following negotiations with the Prison Officers Association. I also welcome the prudent decision to renegotiate, to the maximum extent possible, the costs that will be involved in building the new prison at Thornton Hall. It is prudent to adjust one's outlook and one's plans in line with one's changed circumstances.

I support the call for a debate on NAMA as soon as possible. I am conscious that it is a work in progress. The process of implementing the decision to establish NAMA will be highly technical and highly detailed. As I said yesterday, anyone who has ideas in this regard should bring them forward. The Order of Business in this House gives Senators an opportunity to do so. The door of the Minister for Finance is open. We should have a debate in due course.

I repeat what I said yesterday about NAMA. Many countries, including Germany, are mimicking the Irish process of pooling and centrally managing debts that are deemed to be bad or toxic. Government paper, which will be redeemable from the European Investment Bank, will be used to pay those debts. In my view, that represents the way forward for the entire European Union. Germany is doing it in a similar way. I do not think anyone doubts that we received a resounding vote of confidence yesterday when the National Treasury Management Agency's bond issue was over-subscribed. The international markets are giving their wholehearted approval to the Government's decision to introduce the right policies to get Ireland out of the difficult mess it is in. We are not alone in being in a mess. At a time when Ireland is attracting improved sentiment, the opposite is the case in other big economies, such as Japan. It is clear that the policies we have started to introduce are beginning to produce the tender green shoots that show we are moving in the right direction towards recovery.

I call once more for a debate on the issue of procurement, which was touched on in a different way by Senator Regan when he spoke about tendering processes. When Government contracts that are worth more than a certain amount of money are being awarded, it is obvious that they have to be advertised in the EU Journal. We need to focus on supporting employment in this jurisdiction, as opposed to other jurisdictions, within the confines of EU rules and directives. I have noted today's media reports on the answer that was given to a question asked by Deputy Varadkar in the other House. It seems that many of the Garda uniforms that will be supplied in this country over the next few years will be manufactured abroad. I accept that they will be provided through the Irish agent that was given the contract to provide them. Many products of this nature are being manufactured in non-EU countries. In these more difficult times, we should be allowed to prioritise employment within the EU, at least, if not within the Twenty-six Counties of this jurisdiction.