Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I join others in condemning what is outlined in the recently published Roscommon report. I agree with other speakers that there are many reasons for failure but no excuses for it. While I understand Senator Ó Brolcháin's reference to the pride he feels in terms of the unity among Senators in their condemnation, we all share in the shame of the inaction of many years. I believe everyone shares the frustration expressed by Senator Buttimer and others at the pedestrian nature of change which seems only to take place over many years. I welcome that we will debate that report.

The yields on Irish bonds widened considerably this morning to above 7%. This has happened for three reasons, namely, the collapse of Portugal's budget discussions, the shortfall in Greek tax revenue which has reignited concerns about peripheral European economies, and the suggestion by Bloomberg yesterday that investors were losing faith in Ireland's plan to lower its deficit as spending cuts threatened to undermine economic growth. This should be a stark reminder to us all as we contemplate what is to be part of the four-year budgetary process and the budget which will be introduced in December that it will take innovative and creative suggestions from all Members of both Houses to give confidence to the market that we are prepared to display a level of bravery and leadership that has been alien to us over recent generations, a level of flexibility and an ability to improvise and adapt quickly which has been alien to our public services. We will also need to focus on some of the sacred cows, namely, senior public servants, politicians, the Judiciary and those in the higher echelons of the public service in academia and other sectors who are highly paid. Clearly, we will have to re-examine the Croke Park agreement. We may well have to enter into a new benchmarking process that benchmarks our salaries and positions not with those in the private sector but with those in other countries throughout the world.