Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Senator Byrne believes this House suffers from national amnesia, or something like that, and that we do not know why we are in this situation. We do. It is not to do with the Labour Party and the Fine Gael Party, for that matter.

I agree with my colleague Senator Bacik in that I, too, believe in universal benefits. I am happy to acknowledge there are differences between the Labour Party or the Fine Gael Party. For the sake of argument, I believe in higher taxation and fewer cuts to public expenditure but I know some of my Fine Gael colleagues have different opinions. That is called democracy. We are in a coalition Government, in case the Senator has not noticed. The Labour Party has put its hand up and said it is prepared to compromise, unlike some other parties in previous Governments that drove this country into the place it is today.

I do have a question for the Leader. I do not know if colleagues have noticed there are signs of hope recently in the construction industry and the property market. House prices are beginning to bottom out and are even showing indications of rising. Moreover, the CSO recently pointed out that many older Irish "children" find themselves back at home living with Mammy, not because she makes the best dinner in town or does the washing but because they cannot afford to live anywhere else. We have increased demand, therefore, but there is no banking sector interested in lending money to people in this country. I remind the Leader, yet again, that we need to have a robust debate on the future of the banking sector.