Alex White (Labour)

Given there is no public element to the inquiries into the banking system which we are told are taking place, perhaps a progress report in terms of what precisely is happening in those examinations could be made to the Houses so that we can get some sense or insight into what if anything is happening. My colleagues are correct that there is a need for public information so that there can be proper public debate on these issues. We simply do not have that information. I heard last week an independent economist, Dr. Alan Barrett of the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, say, when asked his view in terms of the comparative approach of allowing Anglo Irish Bank to be wound down or for the bailout to continue, that he could not give an answer in that regard because he did not have available to him the basic information that would allow him to give an intelligent response or any response.

When I hear Members the Government parties say that this is the only way forward and is the correct thing to do, I cannot assess that. I and no other member of the public can assess whether what we are being told is simply a spin because this is what the Government is doing and is the course on which it has set itself. We should be able to assess and understand independently what precisely is going on so that we can compare the two different scenarios. It is taxpayers' money and the public interests that are being dealt with here and as such we should be given more information, even basic information, on what is going on. We have no information in this regard. I ask the Leader to arrange at some point in the not too distant future a debate on universal health insurance, arising from the very interesting conference which took place last week. There was a lone voice at the conference, namely, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. While she represents Government policy, I wonder whether members of Fianna Fáil are as happy as they appeared to have been in past for the Minister to be determining the policy not just of the Government but also of Fianna Fáil on health insurance and universal health insurance generally.

The Labour Party was the first party to call for universal health insurance. Fine Gael, in a very robust fashion, has also done so and I welcome that. Other bodies have also called for it. Can we have a debate in the House on universal health insurance? We should have the Minister in the House to have the sort of honest debate she said she wants to have. We will have an honest debate in this House. If she could come here, we could do that.