Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

-----the car scrappage scheme has been wonderful. Throughout the summer I heard calls for us to extend it. It has enhanced the car industry which, as we know, was struggling until the scheme was introduced.

I agree with those who have spoken about all Members of the House being committed to getting the country out of the terrible mess in which it finds itself. I listened to Deputy Lucinda Creighton the other day on "Morning Ireland" and she talked about people being fed up hearing politicians blame each other and listening to the media pairing one set of politicians against another. Now is the time for us to be responsible. We should all act as befits those elected to these Houses to do the job we have to do. There is a responsibility on every one of us. We all want our country to come out of the terrible abyss it is in. We are proud Irish people, and I say that both to politicians and the media. I am delighted to see a section of the media present that we do not often see in this House. They are taking an interest in the House now. There is an onus on them to be responsible, to watch what they say and how they say it and not show us up in a bad light, whether in Ireland or abroad and especially when others are looking in. There are solutions to this problem and we can get ourselves out of it.

Will the Leader put the issue of anorexia, my old hobby horse, on the agenda for debate? We need the Minister of State with responsibility for that area of health, Deputy Moloney, to address the Seanad because more young boys and girls are being affected. Boys as young as seven and eight as well as young girls are suffering from anorexia. We used to think it was a female problem but it is across both genders.