Senator Darragh O’Brien proposed an amendment to the Order of Business to deal with the code of conduct on mortgage arrears. As I have stated before, I have been on to the Department on numerous occasions to have the Minister attend the House on this matter.

I received a reply from the Minister's private secretary which stated:

The Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, has asked me to refer to your queries relating to the Minister making a statement in the Seanad on the code of conduct on mortgage arrears. The code of conduct on mortgage arrears is drawn up by the Central Bank and the Central Bank is independent in carrying out its functions. The Minister has been assured by the Central Bank that it conducted extensive consultations in advance of revising the code and has also made its officials available for extensive briefings on the code. The Minister would suggest that if Senators wish to discuss and debate the code of conduct on mortgage arrears, they should invite the Central Bank to discuss the matter before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform which would allow for a detailed, thorough examination of the code with the body responsible for the code.

That is Pontius Pilate if ever I heard it.

That is the response I received. I can do no more than outline to the House the response I received from the Department of Finance on that matter. I will seek clarification from the Minister in respect of the MABS withdrawing from the pilot scheme on debt management.

Senator Ivana Bacik and several other Senators spoke about the outbreak of violence in Northern Ireland in the past few days. I call on the Orange Order, as I did when it visited here, to enter into meaningful negotiations with the Parades Commission and all involved. I also ask it to urge its supporters, or so-called supporters, to get off the streets of Northern Ireland and act in a dignified manner, as the vast majority of the population does. I ask it to use its influence in that regard immediately.

Senator Sean D. Barrett spoke about the constant speculation in newspapers regarding the figure of €750 million. I assure him that we will see constant speculation in the next number of weeks up to 15 October, which is budget day. The newspapers will speculate about what will be in the budget, irrespective of what we say in this House. Regarding the figure of €7 million to be spent on bus stops, I think over €4 million of that figure is to be spent on bus shelters throughout the country. I do not think the people waiting for buses on wet days - we do not have days like today every day - would appreciate the Senator's comments in that regard.

If buses ran on time, they would not have to wait.