Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

The new Governor of the Central Bank declared yesterday that he might not be the banking type and that he might not play golf as well as the bankers. We did not employ him to be either of these things, rather we were looking for somebody who could provide for strong governance, straight talking and a clear analysis of where the country stands. It was, however, refreshing to hear some of what he said yesterday. He was persistent in acknowledging the failings and drawbacks of the NAMA scheme being proposed by the Government, that the banks should have taken the greater share of the risk than the taxpayer and that banks would need more money in the new year, something not provided for in the budget. Most importantly, he called for a public inquiry into the causes and effects of the banking crisis. We should act upon this because if we look at those countries which conducted an inquiry into what had gone wrong in their banking systems that had led to financial crises, they were better protected when the next collapse happened. Countries such as Finland, Sweden and Denmark coped with crises in the early 1990s, had a public discussion of what had gone wrong and put in place measures with the consent of the public and often with cross-party support. This time these countries have not suffered huge blows to their national finances, unlike Ireland. I call on the Leader to take this proposal to the Minister for Finance, keeping in mind that there will have to be an allocation of responsibility for what went wrong. The Government will feel uncomfortable about this, but a well conducted inquiry would be in the national interest and lead to the country being better protected in the future should a a similar crisis occur.

The Children's Mental Health Coalition launched its manifesto on mental health yesterday. I raise this issue because of my experience of it in my constituency. Time and again, I come across children of three to five years of age who are within years of being lost to the penal system and to lives of abuse or crime or whose lives will be cut tragically short. We have talked time and again about the Ryan report, the Murphy report and all the measures that need to be taken. I ask the Leader to organise a debate in the new year on the measures being sought by the coalition to deal with the status of juvenile mental health in the Vision for Change programme published in 2006. We can look at measures that would not cost much money to implement but which ethically amount to the right thing to do and which would make great economic sense. If we do not make these interventions now, the country, community and the economy will all suffer in the future.