Yesterday, I raised the issue of the assault on the integrity and sovereignty of this country by a major tobacco company. The company has now been joined, believe it or not, by IBEC and the US Chamber of Commerce in threatening the Government of this country on legislation that passed through this House which mandates plain packaging for cigarettes. I am merely putting down another marker that I hope this will stiffen the Government's resolve. To use American parlance directed at the US Chamber of Commerce and IBEC, "Butt out, guys." It is the right of the Parliament of this country to pass legislation that we believe is in the best interests of the health of the nation, and to suggest there will be some loss of tax revenue as a result completely ignores the significant amounts spent on the health service as a consequence of smokers suffering and, sadly, dying of lung cancer. I am keeping it on the agenda. I hope the Leader will continue to convey the stiff resolve of this House, as reflected last year in the passage of the Bill, to ensure that the Bill goes through the lower House.

I also propose an amendment to the Order of Business: that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy James Reilly, come before the House to explain the Government's policy on child care costs. Yesterday, we heard from over 2,000 volunteers and others employed on miserly wages in the child care sector from all parts, including my part, of the country. I declare an interest in that I am chairperson in a voluntary capacity of the County Leitrim Childcare Committee and I am, in a sense, at the coalface of what is going on in child care in my county. I do not profess to be an expert in it, but I know that what they were out there complaining about yesterday is a valid and legitimate cause. It is extraordinary that people who have gone through the education system and attained qualifications up to third level are being paid €10 an hour, which is just above the minimum wage. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his indulgence. There is a desperate need for increased investment in child care in this country. We spend approximately 0.2% of GDP on this area, when the OECD average is 0.7%. That figure applies right across European countries, although the spend of some of those countries is much higher than that. We also have the highest child care costs, with the United States, which is an unenviable position for this country to be in. The child care costs imposed on hard-pressed parents in this country are 40% higher than average. Many such parents have had to leave the workforce because they cannot afford child care, which is also not in the best interests of society in general, apart altogether from the economy. For that and other reasons, it is vital that the Minister come before the House today to outline what the Government will do in response to the legitimate issues that were raised by the rally yesterday.

I agree with my colleague, Senator Paschal Mooney, about IBEC and the US Chamber of Commerce. My message to IBEC is clear. We are spending €260 million a week on health care. That budget will continue to increase because of the requirement for us to deal with the issues that arise as a result of people smoking. If they want to increase taxation, let them come out and state that they are in agreement with the raising of taxation on the business sector to pay for our abandonment of the plain packaging policy for cigarettes. We have taken the correct decision on this, and if we must face court challenges on it, let us do so. IBEC should not be putting out a view that is not in the best interests of Irish people.

I refer to the issue of taxation on land which is lying idle and which has infrastructure. It is fine to talk about taxation, but one of our biggest current problems in the housing market is the lack of finance for the building sector. There is a significant problem.

I had experience of it when acting for someone. We looked to the banks for finance, but they told us that they were unprepared to entertain anything involving the building industry. We can apply all of the taxation we like on land that is lying idle, but until finance is made available to the industry to start the process of building in order that we might meet our housing targets each year, we will go nowhere. We should start to examine this issue and hold a debate on determining the best way forward. We will address social housing, but we must also consider how to finance the building of houses in the private sector.