Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

May I start by wishing the 266th successor of St. Peter, the new Bishop of Rome, every success? He is in Members' prayers in a difficult task. Pope Francis is a humble man who avoids the luxuries other cardinals would embrace. He takes the bus to work, visits the slums, prays with the poor and has chastised those in his flock who refused to baptise the children of unmarried mothers, which shows his true humanity. He became a cardinal when Argentina was going through an economic crisis and he has derided and lambasted unrestrained capitalism. His courage can be seen from the time when the military junta was in force in Argentina. He interceded directly by persuading a fellow priest who would say mass for the dictators to step aside in order that he could say the mass and intervene directly, which resulted in the saving of the lives of two priests. He has taken the name of St. Francis, obviously intentionally, because of the great respect St. Francis had for humanity in terms of challenging authority. The church at the time was riddled with corruption and he also challenged corruption. In his ministry, St. Francis was given his task with the words, "Go repair my house which, as you see, is falling completely to ruin". I am sure the new Pope Francis perceives the enormous challenges he faces and he is in Members' prayers for his enormous work.

Fianna Fáil intends to move an amendment to the Order of Business and I ask the Leader to bring into the House the Minister for Finance in respect of the mortgage crisis and yesterday's Government announcement on what it is talking about doing.