Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I support the call by Senator MacSharry for a debate on official legal moneylenders. This matter needs to be investigated because of the attraction of moneylenders to people currently encountering difficulties. I also support Senator O'Toole's call for this matter to be addressed in the finance Bill and urge the Leader to put that to the Minister.

On the travel tax, I compliment all Members of the House and, in particular, the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Culture, Deputy Hanafin, who proposed this change. Senator Cannon made the point some time ago that it would be beneficial to consider free flights into Ireland for a particular period, in particular from Britain. This would make a major difference in terms of filling hotel rooms. The Senator also pointed out that if we can bring people into the country, even if we subsidise their flights, it would be a good investment.

On the budget, the Minister for Finance has proposed a four year national solidarity bond, which I welcome. Previously this bond was for ten years but it has now been reduced to four years. While I welcome that the bond is sold through An Post, I raised yesterday with the Minister during a Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party meeting that the banks we own wholly or in part, Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland, should be allowed to sell these bonds because post offices are often busy dealing with pension payments and so on. I believe this would make the bonds more accessible to the public. The national solidarity bond has raised approximately €300 million and is a welcome provision that was raised initially in this House.