Feargal Quinn (Independent)

My question to him is how are we going to solve the problems we face. The answer is in our own hands.

I ask the Leader to facilitate a debate on the report of the National Competitiveness Council entitled, The Costs of Doing Business in Ireland 2011, issued today. It reminds us that while we have brought down our costs, some of them are not within our control. The price of fuels which are imported - compared to the cost of a number of items that have enabled us to make ourselves more competitive - is not in our own hands. This is the type of issue we should debate and I ask the Leader to give us an opportunity to debate it in the next few weeks.

I would like to take up one other point raised by Senator David Norris. We all feel sorry for those who left the armed forces - I believe they numbered 5,000 - at the time of the Emergency at the beginning of the Second World War and now there is condemnation in that regard. However, one must take account of the other side also. If we accept the point that during an emergency-----