Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I was also taken aback this morning to see the front pages of the newspapers and Willie Walsh coming out with a very gung ho attitude, saying that he was following this Government into the trenches in terms of our shares in Aer Lingus. On the question of whether the Labour Party favours the sale of the State's shares in Aer Lingus, it is a Government decision, but a number of senior Labour Ministers have said they do not see any commercial imperative in selling the State's interest and are aware that the State's interests in the matter need to be protected.

I thank Members for a robust debate yesterday on the issue of housing. While I am reluctant to ask again for a debate on housing, a number of issues were raised, particularly in regard to home ownership, tenant-purchase, and other issues around low- or middle-income households having access to home ownership. The credit unions have recently said they would be willing to enter the market in terms of mortgage lending. They were very quickly slapped down from a regulatory perspective for putting their necks above the parapet on this issue.

This merits a two-fold debate, with the first dealing with the credit unions. There were a few high-profile credit union failures but the vast majority of Irish credit unions are very sound and have been serving their communities very well for significant periods of time. They know their membership in a way that banks do not know their customers, and we need to look at whether the current regulatory framework is adequate for the needs of credit unions and their membership. I would like a debate on home ownership. Many Members would have something to add on that.

I welcome the announcement of a ceasefire in Ukraine. We have seen many ceasefires before. Let us hope this one goes somewhere. Around 5,300 people have been killed so far in this conflict on European soil. I would like to see a wider debate on European issues, covering the security issues Europe is facing together with issues like the Greek bailout. We have seen the announcement of the President Juncker investment plan. Ireland has a number of projects of significant value already lodged for that fund and we have the issue of quantitative easing. There are a number of European issues that would merit a debate in the House.

I found the comments of the economist John FitzGerald at the banking inquiry yesterday very refreshing. He put his hands up and said he had made the wrong call, was totally wrong and had made a big mistake that will live with him for the rest of his life. I want to put something on the record. John FitzGerald is an eminent economist. He was the first person to forecast the massive oversupply in the housing market in Ireland.