John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree with my colleague, Senator Darragh O'Brien, that it would be absurd if there was a banking inquiry excluding representation from the Seanad. The finance spokespeople in the Seanad and others who have expertise in that area should be included in any newly constituted committee to inquire into the banking fiasco.

I hate to say "We told you so" but for two years, Members on both sides of the House have been warning that it would only take one serious issue in the charity sector, or one bad egg, to do untold reputational damage to the entire sector, which is crucial. Unfortunately, it seems we have more than one bad egg and may have dozens of them. What is unfolding across the charity sector appears to be only the tip of the iceberg. People are using charities to line their own pockets, to provide themselves with gilt-edged salaries and golden handshakes and to set up companies to provide consultancy services at a premium. This is doing untold damage to the entire charity sector. There are 8,500 registered charities, which is an extraordinary number, and they have resources of between €6 billion and €8 billion annually at their disposal. This issue has been raised in the House time and again and we cautioned that we should proceed without delay in the appointment of a charities regulator, so that we could have full accountability and transparency. This situation is doing untold damage to volunteers, to people doing tremendous work, to service providers and to those who require those services. In many cases, we have seen cutbacks in service provision in organisations whose CEOs are paid more than the Taoiseach, who runs the country. It is unacceptable. Will the Leader bring some clarity as to whether the Government can expedite the establishment of a regulatory office for charities?

Will the Leader arrange a debate, at the earliest possible opportunity, on our energy policy and strategy? Yesterday, the European Commission scrapped renewable energy targets so the basis of our entire energy policy is in tatters. The grounds on which it was predicated in 2006-2007, when it was devised, are no longer in place. Britain, Germany and France are moving away from wind energy as it is too costly, heavily subsidised and is driving energy prices off the charts for consumers and industry. We cannot put our heads in the sand and say it has nothing to do with us and we are going to plough ahead. What is a no-brainer is that we cannot proceed with our current energy policy. We must change course because we will not be the tail that wags the dog. We must take into account what is happening on world markets in terms of the price of oil and gas and what bigger players like Britain and Germany are doing in this sector. It would be foolhardy for this House not to feed into that debate and for us not to revisit our energy policy.