Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

I fully agree the best possible people should be appointed and I fully agree that in the main most of those appointments by all parties have taken place. I acknowledge the huge effort and contribution made by men and women down through the decades in a voluntary capacity in most cases. From the experience of the HSE, and many of us in this House have been members of health boards, all of these appointments must be answerable. We as politicians are answerable on an hourly and daily basis to our electorate and we must go for an endorsement every so many years. We must have an answerable system and I have no difficulty debating this in the House because it is in the best interests of the taxpayer in the long-term and I fully support many of the calls made this morning.

Senators O'Toole, Coghlan and Buttimer spoke about the challenge laid down by the Government to Ryanair and its chief executive. I fully support the Government in its challenge. The opportunity is now being made available for one of the most dynamic Irishmen of all times to see how he will answer the call in the national interest, as well as in Ryanair's interest. I will make the case personally to him over the Christmas recess. I have always acknowledged the wonderful achievements Ryanair has made towards tourism over its lifetime in this country. No one has done better than what it has done and we must increase the tourism figures and his company and Ryanair can play a serious, important role in what they can do going forward for us to recover from the downturn in trade that we are all experiencing.

Senators O'Toole, Norris and Hannigan asked about eurobonds, with Senator O'Toole asking if we need 29 central banks. This can be debated when the Minister for Finance is present this afternoon.

Senator Alex White asked about the HIQA report on children in care and I have no difficulty in passing on the strong views of the Senator to the Minister on this issue.

Senators Leyden, Dearey, Hanafin and O'Toole spoke about the EU judgment that has just been announced and I have no difficulty in having this debated in the House in the first week after the Christmas recess. I also join Senator Leyden in congratulating the two gardaí in Cork for their huge bravery in that terrible incident when they rescued that unfortunate woman.

Senator Norris asked about the immigration Bill and I will try to find out about this today. Senator Keaveney spoke about corruption in sport and the need for an international commission to regulate the alleged abuses in sports. The integrity of sport must be protected and in fairness to Senator Keaveney, she is a champion of this cause at this time and I fully support her. We should be doing whatever we can to help and assist her. The alternative to the abuse of alcohol, drugs and everything else is all sports related. As I often have said, the greatest gift one can give the body is to have it fit. I fully support anything we can do to promote sport in our country.

Senator O'Donovan spoke about the huge opportunities for job creation in the fishing industry. I thank everyone who participated in that debate last night and supported the Minister and I too wish to congratulate him on behalf of Members for his achievements in the EU in bringing back a very good deal in very difficult times for the industry. It is an industry where there are huge job creation opportunities and we should be doing everything we can.

Senator Dearey spoke about the role of the Army in view of the very cold spell we are having at present, in helping and assisting those small villages and towns, particularly retailers who are on their knees because of what is happening at present. The first two weeks of Christmas saw terrible weather and there was no business. There was one weekend last weekend and now the weather forecast is very inclement for the next four or five days. Our hearts go out to the people running these businesses and certainly I will pass on the strong views of this House that Senator Dearey has brought to our attention to the Minister for Defence later today regarding the wonderful work the Army is doing. It should not just be in the large towns; the Army should reach out and help people in villages and smaller towns.

Senators Burke and Phelan asked about local authority funding. This is a huge challenge for local authorities as we all know, and there should be a return to the older ways, where the county engineer had more authority in the running of the affairs of councils, rather than the director of services system we have at present. That is something we can discuss when we have the debate. Matters of urgency in the funding of local authorities present an ideal opportunity this evening for discussion on the Appropriation Bill. That is a crucial item that must and should be discussed on the Appropriation Bill.

Senator Carroll spoke about the Law Reform Commission's report on withdrawing penalties from those unfortunate families who find themselves in arrears and are sent to prison. I fully support the proposals of the Law Reform Commission and Senator Carroll's remarks, particularly for the many thousands of people at this time who find themselves in such serious difficulties with mortgage arrears. These tens of thousands of people do not have any peace of mind when they are in difficulty with their repayments and we should be doing anything we can do to help them until the downturn is finished and gone. I welcome the report brought to the House's attention this morning by Senator Carroll.