Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator O'Donovan's amendment. The Leader may be aware that former Senator Bernard McGlinchey passed away over the weekend. I am sure he will make time available for expressions of sympathy and will contact the family in the interim. Mr. McGlinchey served as a Senator for 21 years between the early 1960s and 1980s.

I join with Senator Norris and others in calling for a debate on the implications of the rejection of the second Croke Park agreement. This is a vital issue which is very much a symptom of how the wider public are feeling in terms of the Government's performance and what is being prioritised. We have rightly, to some extent, celebrated in this House the deal on the promissory note, the extension of the term of liabilities and progress on restructuring our debt profile. We have also witnessed the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, travel the world accepting accolades that would have been given to the late Brian Lenihan had he been alive. While people celebrate these so-called breakthroughs in the country's debt and reductions in the current Government deficit they wonder what is the Government doing for them. Tonight's debate on mortgage arrears must be the 50th on the issue during the past three or four years.

Nothing has happened, however, and we have gone into reverse.