Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

I welcome Senator de Búrca's and Senator White's defence of Deputy Enda Kenny this morning. It is welcome that there is broad cross-party support for what he suggested.

Senator Fitzgerald raised a legitimate issue this morning on which I ask the Leader to arrange a debate. A prisoner in one of this country's prisons was in possession of 73 bags or deals of heroin. What does that tell us? It shows there is drug dealing in our prisons. In every city and large town people are dying or are up to their eyes in debt while families are distraught as a result of drug use. The national drugs strategy is not working. We see the Minister of State with responsibility for the drugs strategy, Deputy John Curran, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Micheál Martin, releasing press statements about issues in Cork while organisations such as Fellowship House, Arbour House and Tabor Lodge are in difficulty with the HSE regarding service agreements and finance. People who are making an effort suddenly find that the State is preventing their recovery through lack of funding. I urgently seek a debate on the national drugs strategy programme.

I ask the Leader to facilitate a debate next week on social partnership. Never before have we needed genuine social partnership more. I appeal to IBEC and the unions to stop the gamesmanship and, in the interest of every worker in this country, to sit down with the Government to hammer out an agreement in order to preserve, protect and maintain jobs. I have listened to the pomposity of some self-serving Members this morning on what happens in this Chamber. The single biggest issue is the creation and retention of jobs, not what happens in here.