I call for the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to come to the House at an early stage. I am not looking for him to come today, but we need an urgent debate on home ownership. It is something to which many of us aspire in our lifetime. In the past it was possible for many of us to achieve it, as we had a home ownership rate of more than 80%, which was one of the highest in Europe, but this figure has fallen to below 70%. I join my colleague, Senator Darragh O'Brien, in having serious reservations about the imposition of a requirement for purchasers to provide a 20% deposit. When we bought our first houses, we decided we would live in a caravan to save on rent ino rder that we would have a deposit. Many people would not have got on the housing ladder if they had needed a very high deposit. Protection of the banks continues to be put ahead of the interests of the country. I can understand people on six-figure salaries of €200,000 or more may not be able to see the difficulties of those earning between €30,000 and €70,000, but it would be a great saving to the State if we could assist the people concerned in achieving this aspiration held by many. It is right that the extent of the loan should be decided having regard to income ratios but, having said this, a more modest deposit of 10% would be adequate. We need an urgent debate before the Governor of the Central Bank gets carried away with his own thinking on this issue.

The tribunals which were such a scandal in the country have come back to haunt us. Those who were here in previous Seanad terms, dating back to 2000, have heard me say this before. The manner in which they were run, the huge and exorbitant costs and the pedantic approach taken by the chairmen have led to a situation where their findings are being successfully challenged in court. At the time, I remember quoting Mr. Justice Adrian Hardiman of the Supreme Court-----

I ask the Senator to refrain from naming people in the House as they are not here to defend themselves. The Senator well knows the precedent. On top of this, there is the separation of powers.