I want to join in the words of congratulations extended to the Leader on the occasion of his son, John, being elected Mayor of Waterford. I also congratulate my colleagues in Galway on their success. Councillor Pádraig Conneely has been elected Mayor of Galway City and Councillor Liam Carroll has been elected Mayor of Galway County.

I applaud journalist Paul Williams and the Irish Independent for the fantastic service that they have done the State in blowing open the Anglo Irish debacle. They have exposed and informed the public about the contents of the taped conversations. The public is rightly angered and I met some of them in my local newsagent this morning before I left Ballinasloe. They are angry about the contents of the tapes. As Senator Crown has said, they are angry about the consequences that stemmed from the actions of those bankers. I call for the immediate establishment of a robust and cost-effective inquiry that will examine every aspect of the banking debacle over the past decade. We have all seen the effects of light touch regulation when it comes to possible criminality and how close bankers are to the political system. The issue needs to be thoroughly investigated but quickly. I renew my call on the Leader to arrange a debate with the Minister for Finance but I accept that he will not be available today.

However, it would be important for the Minister to have a debate with Members on current practices within the banking sector because I have been inundated with complaints from customers about the level of charging within the banks. Such customers are paying for the misdemeanours of bankers in the past and small businesses are being absolutely crucified with banking charges and poor levels of service within the banking system. Customers and small shops that deal with a lot of coins and currency cannot get the level of service from banks they had come to expect but are being charged outrageous amounts of money and are being obliged to present themselves at a time that suits the bank and not a time that suits them.

The Senator is over time.

Members must consider this issue before the grinding of small businesses into the ground goes any further. The Leader should organise such a debate as a matter of urgency.

Although James Gandolfini, also known as Tony Soprano, died last week, what I listened to on the tapes published yesterday and today was straight out of "The Sopranos".

Hear, hear.

I also agree with Senator Mullins that while investigating the outrageous happenings of the past in banking, an eye also must be kept on what is happening at present, whereby small and medium-sized businesses are unable to get loans. Dean Swift wrote an essay called "A Modest Proposal" in which the Irish people who were poor ate their own young, perhaps to keep going. Small and medium-sized enterprises seeking loans must take out personal loans to such an extent that they must mortgage everything they possess and Members must examine this practice.

In addition, as Fine Gael spokesperson for education in the Seanad, I was appalled to read over the weekend that the Garda is to probe reports that pupils were handcuffed and beaten on a school trip. One parent has stated:

Over four days... my son was subjected to assaults and abuse; he was dragged from his room, handcuffed, beaten, punched and kicked, had obscene things written on his arm, and this happened many times throughout the day.

I congratulate Deputy Keating on his efforts to bring this matter into the public domain and support him in seeking either an independent inquiry or at least an inquiry undertaken by the Department of Education and Skills into such outrageous happenings.