Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also compliment the Pope in his infinite wisdom on realising when it was time to go and on having the courage to break with practice where one went when one died.

It is unbelievable how old people are when they are made Pope. The then Cardinal Ratzinger who was in his late 70s when he became Pope is now in his mid-80s and in ailing health. Perhaps the Catholic Church should consider this issue in the context of the leadership that is required and job that must be done for the worldwide population of Catholics.

If there is one common strand in Senators' contributions, it is the need for the House to unite on the banking issue and help people in mortgage arrears. I agree with Senator MacSharry that the mortgage arrears resolution process, MARP, is a joke. It is a superficial code that is not working. I am in close contact with a family that was told after 40 days in the process that it did not qualify for any reduction in payment, despite the relationship manager of the bank in question, Ulster Bank, having recommended that the application for a reduced mortgage repayment be processed. The family, which is not yet in arrears, has been invited to appeal the decision, a process that is expected to take a further 40 days. The upshot of this approach is that the bank in question is inadvertently promoting arrears by delaying people who are under extreme financial stress.