John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Billy Kelleher, in place of the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. It is a pity the debate did not get started until late in the evening. Many items in the Minister of State's speech are very admirable. Perhaps the Minister of State did not mean to say it the way he did but one of his closing remarks was on how the banks could return to profitability by changing their accounting systems. Part of the reason the banks got into difficulty in the first place is because they introduced some very lax accounting systems so I am sure he meant something completely different.

I acknowledge that much of what is contained in his comments is good news and should be acknowledged as such. There is a danger that we talk down the economy too much. However, if we had a euro for every time a Minister or Government Member states the economy has turned a corner at this stage-----