Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I agree wholeheartedly with Senator Harris about the need for consensus on these issues. It is painful, and Senator O'Toole referred to this, to watch political parties exploiting the protests outside the House. However, we have seen over the last couple of years the exploitation of the financial and economic crisis in the country purely for party political gain. It does nothing for the image of politics and definitely does nothing for this country.

I agree with my colleague, Senator Callely, on the need for a debate on NAMA. It is not functioning as effectively as it should be at this stage. Unfortunately, much of the future of this country is vested in NAMA and unless it performs to its full and best potential, we will suffer as a consequence. I seek a debate on this.

With regard to the OECD report, while we should not be complacent about its findings we should consider it in context. It has been acknowledged that it is a comparison with five years ago and we have a significant number of young people who are immigrants and whose literacy skills would obviously be more challenged than those of natives. The other issue, which is positive in some respects, is the fact that there are fewer early school leavers. Many children are remaining in school, which is a good development.