John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

As the third most globalised economy, after the city state of Singapore and the special administrative area of Hong Kong, Ireland has a major interest in the upturn in the global economy. There are clear signs that the global economy is moving forward, especially with the February import and export figures from China and the feeling that this is a major contributor to world economic recovery. In the light of a recovery, we need a debate on the regulation of financial services. It appears that the sub-prime lending which got us into the problem is continuing in the financial markets, not necessarily for mortgage products but for all other forms of lending. Loans are bundled together and good loans are mixed with bad and rolled forward, taking up new additional loans along the way. This is a recipe for disaster. If we have learned nothing from the recent crisis, we are doomed to repeat it. The next crisis could be much more significant. We may have been fortunate to get through this crisis relatively quickly.

I share in the call for a debate on genetically modified foods. Genetic modification, when properly regulated, is no more than accelerated husbandry. We must consider the number of people in the world and their food needs. Furthermore, some genetic modification could make a major and significant contribution to cleaning up the world, including the reduced use of nitrates and carbon storage of plants. These are sufficient reasons to have a debate on the issue.