Order of Business - 26th February 2009

Order of Business - 26th February 2009
Senator David Norris: I would like to move an amendment to the Order of Business such that we can take No. 24, motion No. 33, today in addition to No. 1. It is a call for a rolling debate on the economy. It is perfectly obvious once again that this is principally what we are discussing.
Before I say a few words on the economy, I would like to raise another related matter, that is, the closure of a number of facilities nationally using health and safety and governance issues as a mask to do in those facilities for the most vulnerable people. Senator Twomey rightly stated 20 children died while in the care of the State. Nobody I know of died in an old people’s home from neglect or abuse. We raised in the House the matter of the closure of Bethany House. We were given very equivocal answers and there was supposed to be a meeting about it. Some of those affected are effectively being sentenced to death because they will be put into hospital beds, to which they will be confined. We know their lives will be shortened. What is being used as an excuse is flaking paint and the odd dripping trap.
The same is the case with another home that is being closed. Today we read about the closure of Clonturk House for the blind in north Dublin. The closure is being masked as necessary on grounds of health and safety but some of the residents have lived in the home for 60 years. The residents will be disturbed and put out. Behind this there is a property deal. It worries me that health and safety and good governance issues can be used in some instances by people who would not recognise such issues if they came and sat on top of their heads, in order to evict vulnerable people. That is absolutely wrong.
With regard to the economy, where was the Department of Finance? Was it asleep at the wheel? Did nobody predict any of the events that are occurring? I have lunch with a friend of mine who is a bank manager, a nephew of the writer James Joyce. He used to ask regularly how is it that the Department of Finance is getting the figures wrong all the time, including estimates for income, tax and expenditure. Did it not notice what was coming down the tracks? Who are the top people in the Department and what are they doing?
It is insane to be promoting people who are apparently implicated in the colossal failure of a bank. However, this is nothing new. Five years ago, I spoke in this House about the rewards for failure. When people made a complete hames of British companies, they were got rid of but they got £1.5 million as a result. This is happening again and this is why I am calling for a rolling debate on the economy.
Let us not kid ourselves that there will be any great exercise in democracy tonight. Not a single amendment will be accepted and the Bill will be guillotined, as it was in the other House. This is what is wrong: we are tinkering at the edges. I agree with Senator Harris that this is a national emergency and we need to confront it solidly, head on and with a coherent strategy.

Senator Eoghan Harris: Hear, hear.

Senator David Norris: That, undoubtedly, involves a budget. We should have one within the next month and we should address the tax issue.
I am blistered with e-mails from people pointing out the anomalies, inequities and injustices that have alienated the people. They are asking for a tax and stating they will pay it if everybody does. The super-rich, in particular, should be targeted, and we in the House should be targeted also because we are comfortable here. There should not be tinkering with legislation that we are not even allowed to amend.
I listened to the interview this morning with respect. The former Taoiseach, Dr. FitzGerald, was a most distinguished politician. He did encounter a few banana skins and presided over a Government that came down because of an unwise tax proposal that was not sold to the people. He had his personal debt expunged by a particular bank and recently retired from a hedge fund. Let us have a debate on hedge funds. I spoke with a friend and financial advisor yesterday at lunchtime and asked him to explain hedge funds. He said the process involved is like putting a bet against a football team, which would actually damage the prospects of that football team. That is a kind of national treason also.
I would be very much in favour of a real debate on the economy. Let us have all the facts. I never heard of the new CEO of Bank of Ireland until this morning. We are not even allowed to know how much he is getting. That is astonishing to me and provocative to people.
I regret the cutbacks to overseas development aid. They were probably unnecessary because the budget contracts income. We were giving a percentage, which is naturally contracting in any case. I would have been happy to leave it at that. That would have meant ordinary people would not feel our money was being splashed around and that we were giving a proportion that we could afford. The figure should remain as a percentage.
I am extremely glad the UN Population Fund is being supported by the Government. Long may this continue. It is talking sense about population, which is the biggest problem this planet has ever faced. We should have some moral leadership in this regard.

Senator Michael McCarthy: Hear, hear.

Senator David Norris: The association is fighting against AIDS.

An Cathaoirleach: I call Senator Mary White.

Senator David Norris: Thank God George Bush is gone to blazes out of the way. The damage he did——

An Cathaoirleach: The Senator has his point made.

Senator David Norris: People with AIDS and those facing female circumcision will be protected. I hate listening to the——

An Cathaoirleach: Senator Norris, please.

Senator David Norris: ——hypocritical tripe that we hear.

Senator Terry Leyden: The Senator is frightening the children.