David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator Paschal Mooney's proposed amendment to the Order of Business. I appeal to the Deputy Leader to arrange for a debate in the House on the debt burden and the debt conference for which many people are calling, not just in Ireland but across Europe. In his responses in the past two weeks, the Leader has given the Government's policy position on this, which is fair enough notwithstanding that I do not agree with it. What we are calling for is a debate, however.

It strikes me as quite bizarre if we are afraid even to have a debate on the issue in either the Dáil or Seanad given the high level of indebtedness this State has so I again ask for this debate.

I also raise the arrest of a Deputy and two councillors in the early hours of Monday morning. We have just had a discussion on the HSBC clients, 360 of whom were Irish. As we know, potentially huge levels of tax evasion took place. We know that many bankers, politicians and others who were cheerleaders for the property bubble and the crazy policies that led to the collapse of our economy are the people who are responsible for that. Not one of them has been held to account. On the day a report about massive tax evasion by the elites and the wealthy was published, three anti-water charges protesters were arrested. I do not agree with the nature of all of the water charges protests that have taken place but it was heavy-handed to say the least for 20 members of An Garda Síochána to arrest a Member of the Oireachtas and two councillors. At the same time, people are walking around who got away scot free with collapsing the economy. It is frustrating for citizens and it is wrong and appalling.

I want to get back to the first issue, which is a debate on the need for a debt conference.