Ciarán Cannon (Fine Gael)

On Friday fortnight, when all of us sit down to what I hope will be a safe, loving and caring environment to have Christmas lunch with our families, we should reflect on the fact that on the same day last year the ISPCC Childline centre received calls from 750 children throughout the country. Many of them were seeking protection from domestic violence and abuse on what should be happiest day of the year. We should also reflect on the fact that another 500 children called Childline but their calls were not answered.

It begs a question. In this country we have a horrible habit of developing a collective amnesia every now and again. We spend a week or two debating the Ryan and Murphy reports, wringing our hands over the horrendous things which have happened to children in the past and continually promising ourselves that we will not let such things happen now or in the future. The very fact that on one day alone last year, on what should have been the happiest day for our children, 500 children called Childline, which should be available to assist them, and did not get an answer is a bad reflection on us as a whole.

While the budget today will test the Government's economic and fiscal skills in taking us back from the precipice, as Senator Fitzgerald described it, it will also test its set of values, what it truly values in our society and what it means to be Irish. Over recent weeks, during our flooding crisis, we saw families and communities coming together to protect those rendered very vulnerable over a number of days. Despite this, the people at the helm of this country seem to have lost their value system. I ask that today we see a return to a situation whereby we value the most vulnerable and, despite the difficulties we find ourselves in, we afford them the protection they deserve.