Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I support Senator Bradford's amendment to the Order of Business. This side of the House begged the then Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food not to dismantle the sugar industry at that time. What happened subsequently was disgraceful.

I am heartened by Senator Ó Murchú's statement that he and the Leader will bring forward proposals to the Minister for Finance on job creation. Fine Gael has made several proposals concerning job creation, yet the Government has not listened or taken on board a single proposal. This House has had several debates on the economy, but neither Senator Ó Murchú nor the Leader have brought forward in any of those debates any of the proposals they purport to have. If they were to do so, the Opposition could debate and evaluate their proposals. I hope that when the next economic debate occurs in the House, they will bring forward those proposals.

I also wish to raise with the Leader the looming crisis in local government financing. Many local authorities will be having budgetary debates in the coming week, some of whom are facing financial ruin. We have not seen the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in this House for a long time. Consequently, the Leader should ask him to attend the House as a mater of urgency. There is a shortfall in every single area concerning the funding of local democracy and, therefore, an urgent debate is required on that subject.