Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the statement by President Higgins in the Financial Times today that there should be a rethink of the way European Union leaders are handling the economic crisis. He says there is a need for pluralism of approaches and, in particular, a separation of banking and sovereign debt. That is the purpose of our Bill, No. 34 on the Order Paper. I met the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, at the unveiling of the sculpture to mark the 60th anniversary of the discovery of DNA by Professor James Watson who, incidentally, had Tipperary connections. It is a beautiful sculpture in the Botanic Gardens. The Minister of State is keen to make progress and said he had the support of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan. We will meet the officials in about three weeks time, but we are getting as much of the material as possible from the United Kingdom and the United States. The need to get a Bill on banking onto the A, B or C list is urgent because the officials are far too slow in that regard. They have to bear responsibility because, substantially, they gave the guarantee in 2008.

I welcome the research on cycle ways by Mr. Frank McDonald in The Irish Times and the huge success of the cycle way between Westport and Achill Sound, of which the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, is a noted advocate. It is built along old railway lines. Unfortunately, as Mr. McDonald notes, similar proposals for a cycle way between west Limerick and County Kerry are being frustrated because CIE did not maintain the route. Some farmers have taken over land properly belonging to CIE which the Minister of State wants to convert into a cycle way to be as successful as the one in County Mayo. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister of State to come into the House to debate the use of disused railway lines as cycle ways, given the success of the experiment in his constituency.