Senators Jim D'Arcy and Terry Brennan spoke about the €1 million in funding allocated for Ireland's Ancient East. Senator Jim D'Arcy hoped the Táin saga would feature in the second tranche of funds to become available. It is welcome that €145,000 has been allocated for Waterford's Viking Triangle and interpretative centre. It has been welcomed by everyone.

Senator Feargal Quinn spoke about the establishment of a Shannon river basin authority. He also mentioned that Ireland was 17th of 189 nations when it came to starting one's own business. There is a need for improvement in that regard. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, has a tremendous record in dealing with the issue of job creation. There was another announcement today of the creation of hundreds of jobs. It is proposed to create 500 jobs in PricewaterhouseCoopers. There have been many other jobs announcements in the past few weeks.

Senator Aideen Hayden welcomed the conclusion of the climate change talks, as did Senator Sean D. Barrett. She also outlined the need for a State-backed insurance scheme for flood victims.

Senator David Cullinane produced Sinn Féin's proposals on universal health care. I look forward to reading the document. I hope it will be better than the fictional budget policy document that he produced earlier in the year and that he usually produces before the budget.