Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

I add my voice to the calls for a debate on the tribunals. I find it nauseating to hear Members opposite questioning the tribunals. If I am wrong, the Leader can correct me, but is it not the Government which sets the fees and the Minister for Finance on behalf of the Government who agrees to them? Therefore, the Government has the power to set the fees, to increase and decrease them. I accept that it has decreased them. However, it is nauseating to listen to Members opposite, given that in some cases members of their party caused the tribunals to be further delayed. It is important for the tribunal concerned to answer the question of how it can claim for six days of the week, 52 weeks of the year. All of us on this side of the House agree that the tribunals have gone on for far too long, something which needs to be changed.

Senator Harris spoke about public opinion and the need for people to stop reflecting on what happened in the past. As someone who refers to history repeatedly in the House, he should know that we should learn from mistakes made in order that we can avoid repeating them in the future. As somebody who knocks on doors four nights a week, I can tell the Senator that the people are angry. Many of them would love to see punditry being removed from our newspapers and television screens because it serves no purpose in our society.