Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I support those Senators who spoke last night on the recent flooding and believe we should deal with the issue as if it was a full national emergency. Flood waters are at record levels across the Shannon basin and it is only right the Government should declare a national emergency, put a Minister in charge to deal with the issue properly for people in the west and midlands who have been flooded. If the weather turns nasty again in the next few days, they will have a complete catastrophe on their hands. I, therefore, ask the Deputy Leader to call on the Taoiseach to declare this a national emergency and have a dedicated Minister responsible for dealing with the issue.

Another report from the Department of Health and Children shows that home care packages from the HSE are poor value for money. There is unbelievable inconsistency as regards home care packages for patients. One is six times more likely to be offered such a package in County Meath than in County Wicklow. This clearly indicates inconsistency within the HSE which was established to ensure there would not be such inequality in the delivery of health care services across the country. The fact that it is delivering poor value for money is not surprising, but it is unfortunate in the times in which we live.

Perhaps the Deputy Leader might arrange for an early debate on crime. It might not be possible do this before Christmas, but certainly such a debate should take place as soon as possible afterwards. There is far too much violent crime. Last night a shopkeeper in County Wicklow was murdered while defending his business. In my constituency, County Wexford, there have been two murders in the last two months which were totally unnecessary. There is a sense that crime is out of control. I am not asking the Minister to come to the Seanad, but we could have a debate among ourselves to determine whether crime is really out of control and how bad things are getting. There is certainly enormous fear among the general public that crime is out of control and that the Government has lost control in this regard.

I do not intend to refer to the economy, as I am sure we shall be debating the issue from next week onwards.

However, if Ministers are conducting a debate on the economy, they should provide Members with up to date information as to what the Government plans to do with the economy, rather than consistently asking the Opposition for its views to help out the Government. Perhaps Ministers should give their views on what they wish to achieve over the coming years.