John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator Whelan's call for a charities regulator to be put in place as soon as possible. I raised the issue in the House yesterday when I pointed out that for every Rehab scratch card that was bought for €1 only a quarter of a cent got to the charity, which is why this matter is urgent.

I also support Senator Whelan's call for us to revisit our alternative energy targets. I had predicted yesterday's announcement that the targets were no longer legally binding. I ask the Government and the civil servants to desist now from blaming Europe. When we raise the issue of green energy they blame Europe and say we have targets and so on. As we no longer have them and they are not legally binding, they should get off that space and start looking at the real issues. If they continue to blame Europe I would wonder what are their individual agendas.

Senator Darragh O'Brien spoke about the how the banking inquiry is so slow in coming about and that people are so angry. Nothing is happening, it is business as usual for the banks and the people are paying. It is vital that this be dealt with. In addition, the insolvency legislation is not working.