Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

Will the Leader arrange a debate on competitiveness in the next session? The report by the Central Statistics Office on pricing that was published yesterday made for interesting reading. It showed that prices in Ireland have fallen by nearly 5.5% compared with last year. That is the fastest rate of decline of any country within Europe and shows the changes taking place at the moment.

Two points in particular merit discussion. While prices are falling fast in some areas, in services provided by the Government, they are increasing. An example I bring to the Leader's attention is that of transport. Over a time when the price of air travel fell by 14%, services either regulated or provided by the State have increased in cost. Bus fares have risen by 11%, taxi charges by 8% and rail tickets by 9%. In addition, certain sections of our commercial society continue to rip off the country at large - for example, insurance services. In recent months the price of home and contents insurance has risen by 25%, with car insurance up by 14%.

I will conclude by referring to the point made by Senator Butler about the Davy report. I read the report and I emphasise two points about it. First, it shows how low the standards of success have fallen in government. Now the sale of 85% of the available bonds constitutes a successful sale, while a number of years ago every bond sale was oversubscribed. People used to queue up to buy them and now we cannot sell them all. In addition, the report points out clearly that Irish levels of Government debt will continue to rise because of the problems with our banks. Thus, the report is anything but a vindication of the Government's success in managing the economy.