Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Darragh O'Brien raised the code of conduct on mortgage arrears. He also raised it on Tuesday and Senator MacSharry raised it in his absence yesterday. Senator Hayden also raised it. I have asked the Minister for Finance to come to the House but I have not yet received a positive response on the issue. The Minister for Finance and the Minister of State at the Department of Finance have come to the House on numerous occasions to discuss banking issues, the insolvency Bill and many others. I will renew my representations to have the Minister come to the House to speak specifically on the code of conduct. I cannot assure the House that I will get him to come to the House today but I will renew my representations in that regard.

Senator Hayden and other Senators raised the closure of St. Patrick's Institution. I commend the Minister on that decision. It is long overdue. There has been report after report on St. Patrick's Institution so it is a good day for the country that the Minister has decided the institution should now close. The development of new facilities at Oberstown will commence and in the interim the transfer of all 17 year olds currently serving a sentence in St. Patrick's Institution to a dedicated unit in Wheatfield Prison will go ahead. The 18 to 20 year old population in the institution will also be transferred to Wheatfield. It is a positive development that action has been taken after the numerous reports calling for the closure of that institution.

I note Senator Barrett's comments about the Anglo Irish Bank tapes. I agree with his comments on the Food Provenance Bill. I understand that Senator Quinn and the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, had discussions prior to the Bill being introduced. It is positive that sponsors of a Bill can discuss matters with a Minister prior to the Bill coming before the House.

Senator Kelly raised the changes that are alleged to have taken place in medical card eligibility. Perhaps the Senator would table an Adjournment motion on the matter so he can get specific facts on it.

Senator Leyden, Senator Cullinane and others referred to the committee on European affairs and the report of the rapporteur, Senator O'Reilly, on youth unemployment. I join them in commending our colleague, Senator Reilly, on this report. It knits in quite well with the negotiations the Taoiseach had in Berlin yesterday on the youth guarantee and youth unemployment. It is an issue that affects not just our country but all of Europe. A sum of €6 billion has been set aside by the European Union to address it. Some would say a great deal more is required but €6 billion is a large sum. Hopefully it will trickle down and we will see an improvement in our youth unemployment rate in the coming months.

I agree with Senator Paul Coghlan's comments, which he also made yesterday, that we cannot allow banks to ride roughshod over their mortgage holders and customers. As I said previously, I will try to get the Minister for Finance to come to the House to discuss that and the code of conduct on mortgage arrears published by the Central Bank.

I note Senator Norris's strong comments on the Seanad abolition Bill. All Members will have their say. I believe another 16 Senators will speak on it today and there will be another three and a half hours of debate. We allocated almost eight hours for debate on it.