Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Leader to organise a debate on the current state of the economy as we will not have much time to discuss the budget provision. The economic policy being pursued by the Government is akin to economic Darwinism because it involves the survival of the fittest. Those who have get richer and those who have not get nothing. Those who are on the outside of our society keep looking in and those who are on the inside of our society keep getting more.

I would also like the Leader to organise a debate on our judicial system. It was widely reported during the week that a non-custodial sentence was applied in a horrific rape case. Some 69% of people are not satisfied with the way our Judiciary hands down sentences. A gender quota is needed in our Judiciary. Even though we have women at the highest ranks of our justice system, including the Garda Commissioner, some Supreme Court judges and the Attorney General, our judicial ranks are full of white middle-aged conservative men who hand down appalling sentences, unfortunately based to a large degree on prejudice.