Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Senator David Norris looks to be in rude good health and looks great.

As I was away last week attending the plenary session of the Council of Europe last week, I was not in a position to ask the Leader for a debate on the disclosures made in the Anglo Irish Bank tapes which are receiving enormous coverage around the world. It was embarrassing when in Strasbourg last week to see the coverage the disclosures were receiving in the Financial Times and other newspapers and the way Ireland was being portrayed as a cowboy country. It has certainly not done the country any good. I do not know why Independent Newspapers published them. While it has been beneficial for the newspaper, boosting its sales and helping to resolve its financial difficulties, it has not helped the image of the country.