Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

If the matter was not so serious, I would ask the Leader to organise for someone from the magic wand factory to come to the House to discuss how to create magic wands, which Fianna Fáil seems to believe we can use to create an immaculate budget that does not affect anybody, despite the mess they clearly left. As others eloquently put it, we are trying to sort out the mess we inherited. It is difficult and many Government Members are not happy about some of the measures in the budget but we understand that we need to keep going and that we need balance in the budget mix.

Many positive, decent and well thought-out budgetary adjustments are not being discussed and they will make a difference, particularly in the context of job creation. One issue that is too easily overlooked is the creation of an energy efficiency fund, which we could discuss during the next term. Will the Leader ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to come to the House to discuss the establishment of such a fund? It would be a new departure but energy efficiency is an important element of job creation in the energy sector.

I refer to the case of Marie Fleming and I would like to acknowledge her enormous dignity, fortitude and courage and that of her family, as they face the most extraordinary personal difficulty, which they have taken into the public arena not only on behalf of herself and her fight for the right to die peacefully in the arms of her family but on behalf of other people who face a similar battle and for whom this could make a difference in the future.