Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, I convey our deepest sympathies to the families of those lost off the coast of west Cork in the recent tragedy. I commend the search and recovery teams on the difficult task they are undertaking.

I also wish to convey our sympathies to the family of the editor of the Sunday Independent, Mr. Aengus Fanning. Not all of us would agree with everything he wrote or stood for, but we all agree that he played a major part in journalism with the most prominent Sunday newspaper. We are all saddened by his early passing.

Every week since September, I have asked when the Government will publish the mortgage arrears implementation strategy. I learned with great interest this morning that the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, told the Irish Banking Federation that he would be asking banks to deal with their customers, given that the former have the ability to write down debt. I remind colleagues across the House of the time when the Minister of State sat in the ministerial chair in this Chamber and made, in his own words, a bold statement to a Government party Senator to the effect that he would publish the mortgage arrears implementation strategy in advance of the 6 December budget. It was not done. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, was to publish it before Christmas, but that was not done either. We are approaching the end of January. When will the Government act on the Keane report, which the Minister has had since September? What will the Government do about it? Our party's position is clear, in that we should not leave the decision making on this issue to the banks. At least 10% of mortgages in the residential market are distressed or in arrears.

I watched yesterday's report on the debate in the Dáil Chamber with dismay. The Official Report shows that the Taoiseach confirmed to the leader of my party that the cross-departmental committee which is supposed to be coming up with a position in regard to our role in Europe and the EU treaty negotiations has not even met. I remind Members opposite that their respective parties have been in government together for almost 12 months. It takes time to get one's feet under the desk, but it should not take a year.

This is a very serious situation. This morning we heard from RTE that the Taoiseach will tell his EU partners at the upcoming summit, without any preceding Oireachtas debate, whether we require a referendum on the proposed treaty changes. We in this House do not even know what the Government position is in this regard. Did the Government submit any position papers as part of the EU treaty negotiations?