Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I largely agree with Senator Fitzgerald's call for a debate on the subjects she raised, especially the resignation by the governor of the Dóchas Centre. I also agree with the point raised by Senator O'Toole about the imprisonment of people for certain types of offences. I would like to think that we have already stopped imprisonment for the non-payment of a television fine in the Broadcasting Act 2009, while the Fines Bill 2009 will come before the Seanad and address some of those issues. It is clear in 2010 that there are still too many petty and technical offences that require imprisonment. A debate on the issue in the House would be useful.

A progress report debate on the credit review group would also be useful. The group was established in February and it has a brief to report in the quickest possible time. There is an ongoing agreement between the financial institutions and the Irish Bankers' Federation on repossessions, and this is helping the situation.

We must talk about the need for legislation for public service pensions, including those of politicians. The idea of a group collectively making a voluntary decision is a concept that is strange to me, but I do not care if it is the right decision. We need to reflect on the level of public concern that exists about the idea of ongoing payments to members of the public service who receive pensions for previous employment at the same time.

I agree with Senator White's call for a debate on public transport, but it should be wider. While Dublin Bus has its issues to consider, the metropolitan Dublin area is also served by the DART, Luas and commuter rail, but the other major urban centres - Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Galway - have bus-only services, so they should be included in such a debate.