John Whelan (Labour)

We all share Senator MacSharry's grave concern for the families and workers to be affected by the proposed and expected major lay-offs in the Aviva company. The unemployment fall-out from the fiscal and banking mismanagement in this country and elsewhere has not fully washed through the system. For many families, the worst is not over yet and they face the prospect of having no job coming up to Christmas.

We must be horrified for the families affected by the Priory Hall fiasco. That situation is only the tip of the iceberg regarding the issue of dodgy house building by cowboys in this sector. There has been much handwringing by many of the stakeholders in this sector, including the Construction Industry Federation and others, who say that it has nothing to do with them. I do not agree and I would like to have the Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Deputy Penrose, in the Chamber to hear his proposals on tightening up in this area. This is another example where light touch regulation has landed us in a fine mess, similar to the light touch regulation in the banking system. I was horrified to learn recently at a local authority briefing that only 15% of all construction projects are inspected by planning enforcement officers from local authorities because the industry is supposed to be self-regulatory. That system does not work in banking or construction.

I commend the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, on his genuine effort to engage with turf cutters around the country to solve the issue and to strike a fair and reasonable balance between turf cutting for domestic use and the important issue of conservation and preservation. I appeal to those who represent large turf cutting contractors to engage in a genuine and meaningful effort to solve the problem.

We all agree that press freedom and fair comment are cornerstones and fundamental values in our democracy. Fair comment in the public interest is a pillar of a real republic. I was shocked to learn at weekend of the de facto sacking from Today FM of the prominent press man, Sam Smyth.