Deirdre Clune (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Will the Leader arrange a debate with the Minister for Finance in the new year on the mid-term economic review that was published yesterday? The report has been criticised by some for not being ambitious enough and by others for not being sufficiently cautious. The projections contained therein seem to me to be very realistic. The House should avail of an opportunity to discuss that document, together with the ESRI data that were published this morning. The ESRI is positive in its outlook, predicting that increased domestic demand and reducing unemployment will contribute to greater than expected growth. There is much food for thought in these reports.

A "Prime Time" report last night outlined how a charity that provides residential places for drug addicts subjected some of those individuals to serious abuses. It is completely unacceptable that the operations of such organisations should be entirely unregulated. That situation must be rectified.