Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

Why is the Seanad always able to sit on a Friday when we are shafting people and when we are trying to attack the most vulnerable people in society? Why can we not sit 24 hours a day, seven days a week to pass debt relief legislation for vulnerable people? We cannot do so as the proposed legislation keeps getting postponed, yet the door is always open if we are to make cuts, no matter what government is in power. The doors will be open seven days a week if we are going to hurt people but if we make any improvements to people's lives, the Civil Service, the troika and the advisers on €150,000 per year all tell us it cannot be done. It can always be done on a Friday if it affects the poor and the vulnerable and the people who are least able to represent themselves in society.

We have been told time after time that we are getting Scandinavian child care. Perhaps that is where the Minister is this morning. Is she in------