Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

No. 2 on the Order Paper, the Foreshore and Dumping at Sea (Amendment) Bill 2009, report from the Dáil, will be taken at the conclusion of No. 1. I apologise because I stated it would be taken after No. 2. It will adjourn not later than 4.20 p.m. to be followed by No. 3, the Criminal Procedure Bill.

Senators Fitzgerald, Quinn, Alex White, Boyle, O'Sullivan, Coghlan, Ormonde, Cannon, Callely, John Paul Phelan, Bradford, Mullen, McFadden, O'Reilly, Buttimer and Daly all expressed strong views regarding social welfare fraud, how talks with the unions are proceeding and how they finished last Friday. Most of the comments had their source in one publication. The journalist who wrote that article mentioned the presence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, even though he was not even at the Cabinet meeting. That puts into perspective the detail and research that went into that article.

The Seanad calls on the leadership of the trade union movement and leaders and Members of both Dáil and Seanad Éireann to allow common sense to prevail at this very difficult time in our country's history. The eyes of the world, especially the financial world, are watching Ireland at this time. Strong leadership on the part of all political parties in the Government is needed. Most important, and as never before, it is needed on the part of the trade union movement. Confidence must come into play here.

After the Christmas recess, I will allow an all-day debate on the Forfás report on driving export growth, with statements on sectoral competitiveness. As Senators on all sides of the House noted, unless we deal with competitiveness, we will not get our economy back on track. That is where the future lies with regard to planning and growth.

Both Houses of the Oireachtas have a responsibility and a role before the Finance Bill comes into being. I will hazard a guess that a €4 billion correction will be put in place tomorrow to deal with the challenges facing our country and get it running on a day-to-day basis. The Finance Bill must address the driving forward of job creation and investment for growth in the future. It is in that regard that the Forfás report can be debated.