Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the call for an independent investigation into what exactly is going on in family planning clinics throughout the country. The issue is that we do not know what is going on. If there is malpractice or if women's lives are being put at risk, we need to know. The Leader might advance this to see what exactly can be done and what will be done by the Government on this issue.

I call on the Leader to invite the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, to the House in advance of the budget for two specific reasons. The first has been referred to by Senator John Kelly. The public has lost trust in the banks. From the goodness of our hearts, as a nation, we recapitalised the banks. We have given bailouts in order that they could help families in difficulty with mortgages.

The trust has gone. The House needs to propose solutions to the Minister to deal with those banks which use bailout funds to fund exorbitant pensions. It is obscene and immoral to pay a pension of more than ¤500,000 at a time when many people are hurting. This issue affects those who are paying unsustainable sums of money to cover their mortgages, in some cases more than 35% of their net income. In the course of campaigning on the children's rights referendum, I have met families who are paying as much of 70% of net income. That is unsustainable in the long run. These families are experiencing difficulties in paying their electricity bills and putting food on the table because they are doing all they can to repay their mortgages. Given that they have lost trust in the banks, they need some relief from the State through, for example, mortgage interest relief because they are the key to the domestic economy. Any money they free up from mortgage repayments will be spent domestically, thereby helping the economy to recover. I would be grateful, therefore, if the Leader could arrange a debate with the Minister for Finance at the earliest opportunity.