Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Thanks to the Leader and the Deputy Leader, there were 16 hours of debate on the water issue in this House. Nineteen of my amendments were rejected by the Minister, but the Seanad did try to play its role and improve its value. Apparently, the debate in the Dáil was completely inadequate, which is the reason many of the problems arose subsequently.
As of 8 a.m. today, permanent tsb had failed the stress tests set by the European Central Bank. This is a body which was criticising the attempt to have loan-to-value and loan-to-income ratios because it promoted bubbles in the property market. The body is 99.2% owned by the State and would be much better off looking at rules to prevent bubbles and getting its affairs in order. I sympathised with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, yesterday, as he tends to receive advice from large numbers of failed bankers and tax dodging accountants.
On a happier note, I note the tribute to Ben Bradlee, the editor of the Washington Postwho died yesterday, from President Obama. He said: "For Benjamin Bradlee, journalism was more than a profession - it was a public good vital to our democracy." We all know great journalists, although we wish they would play a greater role in reporting on proceedings in this House. They are essential to democracy, which is the reason President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Ben Bradlee. When as a boy he was recovering from polio, an Irish-American Bostonian family, the Cronans, helped him back to full health; therefore, we sympathise with them today. One of his mottos was, "Hire people smarter than you are and encourage them to bloom." I find this easy to implement and recommend it to other Members of the House.