Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I am disappointed that such a debate is taking place on the Order of Business. Since yesterday we have had clarity on the amounts of money involved. Is the cost of bailing out the banks lower than the cost of letting them go to the wall? That is the debate we need to have today. We have allocated three hours and I hope we will have that debate.

I would like to see a debate take place very soon on the insurance industry. If it has been arranged for tomorrow, I am pleased. Like Senator O'Toole, I was jolted by the discovery this morning that we were still paying levies introduced on the collapse of PMPA 28 years ago. While I look forward to the debate tomorrow, we should also be discussing in today's debate on banking the alternatives to what was proposed yesterday. This is an interesting debate and it is the right time to have it. Let us make sure we will have it during the time allocated rather than on the Order of Business.