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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 27 Jun 2000

Vol. 522 No. 2

Private Members' Business. - Government Policies: Motion.

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

noting that the Government's economic policy lacks coherence and foresight and that the latest inflation rate of 5.2%, which is the highest level for 15 years and three times the EU average, is threatening the stability of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness and is impacting most severely on the most vulnerable people in society particularly pensioners and those on fixed income;

aware that if current trends continue, the average peak hour travel speeds in the Dublin area will fall from 14 km per hour now to just 8 km per hour by 2016 which will result in huge economic, social and environmental costs; and that demand for public transport will increase by 450% over the same period;

noting that in the absence of any coherent spatial planning, house prices have risen by 70% over the last three years, putting home ownership beyond the reach of most first time buyers, and that during the same period rents have doubled and local authority housing lists have increased by 40%;

conscious that since this Government took office there is a deepening crisis in the health services, evidenced by an increase of 18% in hospital waiting lists, the fact that over 14,000 adults and children have been waiting for over a year for a hospital bed, the shortage of nurses and doctors and industrial unrest and low morale among medical and paramedical staff;

concerned about the rise in violent crime, with 30 deaths in the first half of the year, and the growing level of public disorder and attacks in public places;

noting the fact that the Government has failed to produce a comprehensive child care package and has introduced tax policies that are divisive between families;

noting that the Government's environmental policies are failing to deal with crucial issues such as waste disposal and Ireland's international obligations to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions;

aware that despite numerous promises, the Government has failed to publish new ethics legislation and the Taoiseach has been dilatory and evasive in dealing with problems concerning former Deputy Ray Burke, Deputy Denis Foley and Deputy John Ellis;

recognising the widespread public outrage regarding the Government's decision to nominate Mr. Hugh O'Flaherty to the position of Vice President of the European Investment Bank, despite the acknowledgement by the Taoiseach that Mr. O'Flaherty has questions to answer in relation to his role in the Sheedy case;

noting the recent public comments made by the Tánaiste which may have profoundly damaging implications for a current criminal trial,

condemns the Government's abject failure to adequately address any of the fundamental problems facing the country.

I wish to share my time with Deputies Noonan, Shatter, Connaughton, Hayes, Neville and Olivia Mitchell.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

The Dáil should not adjourn for a recess of three months on Friday because so much is happening. The revelations in the Moriarty tribunal today go to the very highest level in Government. There are political as well as legal issues of accountability to be resolved. While legal issues can be resolved in tribunals or courts, political issues can be resolved only here on the floor of Dáil Éireann. This House has its job to do, just as much as courts or tribunals have theirs.

The Government has no right to send the Dáil on holiday and hope that current events will fade from public memory. This House has a right to sit and consider these issues. I call on the Taoiseach to revise the arrangements for the summer recess so that this House can meet. Office rebuilding does not prevent democracy from continuing. We can meet in this Chamber regardless of what may be going on in other parts of Leinster House.

I will not spend long dealing with the situation of the Tánaiste in light of her damaging remarks that have led to the calling off of the criminal trial of former Deputy Charles Haughey for alleged obstruction of the work of a tribunal appointed by this House. The Tánaiste at all times speaks as a member of Government. If she makes a comment that has damaging effects she, as someone appointed by this House, must be accountable to this House. Today the Tánaiste seems to be hiding from this House and slipping furtively into Cabinet meetings to avoid the media.

The Tánaiste made a grave political error, which is tragic for her. She has pursued the issue of accountability in politics with sincerity and consistency. Accountability has been one of the foundation concepts of her party. However, the Tánaiste must also be accountable to this House for her words and actions. Actions and words have consequences. That is what accountability is about. In regard to her damaging remarks, which were construed as being related to a current trial, the Tánaiste must now apply to herself the doctrine of accountability which she has so often applied to others, speaking from the seat now occupied by Deputy McDowell.

If any other Minister had made an error that had the consequences the Tánaiste's error has had, he or she would have to be accountable. Press releases issued on her behalf outside the House do not suffice. If an error like this had been made by any Minister when Deputy Harney was in Opposition, she would have been demanding that Minister's resignation, and she knows that well. She now seems to be a person of double standards.

In the course of a radio interview this morning, the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy O'Donnell, said: "This is a good Government." It is not a good Government. It is not the sort of Government this country needs. A Government that breaches Cabinet procedures in making important appointments to a European post, appointing somebody whom it was willing to impeach only a year previously, is not a good Government. A Government that appointed Ray Burke as one of its members and then blamed the Opposition when he eventually had to resign is not a good Government. A Government that prevaricated over the positions of Deputies Foley and Ellis on committees for which they were wholly unsuitable is not a good Government. A Government that has inflation running at three times the EU average is not a good Government. A Government that has seen house prices increased by 70% since it came to office is not a good Government. A Government that has seen 4,000 child care places disappear without replacement is not a good Government. A Government that has 14,000 adults and children waiting over a year for a hospital bed is not a good Government.

There is a shortage of nurses and doctors in the health service. There is industrial unrest. Anaesthetists are now so scarce that epidurals for women delivering babies are only available on some days in certain maternity hospitals – the baby has to be born on a particular day of the week if the mother is to have the possibility of having the pain mitigated by an epidural. What sort of health service is this? What sort of country is this where that could happen, where such pain is inflicted?

Many of these problems – inflation, housing, health waiting lists, child care – have one thing in common, they are all evidence of a structural bottleneck in Irish society. There is insufficient supply of people to work, so inflation is increasing. There is insufficient supply of people to work in hospitals, so waiting lists are increasing. There is insufficient supply of serviced land for housing, so house prices are rising. There is insufficient supply of outlets for various retail products, so retail prices are rising and are far higher here than elsewhere in Europe. There is an insufficient supply of child care places, so parents and children are suffering. There is insufficient supply of public transport and road space for cars, so traffic jams are getting worse. Structural problems such as these can be resolved only by structural reform. Structural reform is needed, but a Government that is looking over its shoulder all the time at tribunals, or whose members are looking suspiciously across the table at one another, is not the sort of Government a country in need of structural reform needs to have in office.

An early general election would be in the best interests of the country. I say that because we simply cannot go on the way we are going now. It is too much for the public to bear. We need to clear away the agenda of sleaze and get on with the business of government, and only a new Government can do that. The Taoiseach and Tánaiste, Deputies Bertie Ahern and Mary Harney, have nothing more to offer. They should go, and go quickly.

It is a measure of the arrogance of the Government that when the leader of the Opposition is leading off in this debate it has not fielded a single Cabinet Minister to sit on the Government benches. If this House were a court, the Government would be in the dock charged with criminal negligence. When it came to office three years ago, it took over an economy which was thriving. All economic indicators were pointing upwards. The budget was going into surplus, economic growth was unprecedented and the rainbow Government had negotiated the highly successful Partnership 2000. Ireland's inflation was the lowest in Europe. The economy continued to prosper in the early years of this Administration, not because of any proactive Government policies but because, as inheritors of office, the Government benefited from the successful policies of its predecessors. That has now changed.

An inappropriate fiscal policy is threatening our prosperity. The canker of inflation is threatening the rose of growth and while the Minister for Finance, like King Canute, commands the rising tide to stop, the Tánaiste, in an excursion into the past, draws on the failed policies of yesteryear and seeks to keep down prices by order.

Inflation makes people poorer. A person's income buys less and people on fixed incomes such as pensioners and those on social welfare payments slide further into poverty when prices rise. This year's budget increased social welfare payments by 5%, but this is now completely eroded by rising prices. The Programme for Prosperity and Fairness agreed a wage rise this year of 5.5%. This year's inflation, estimated by the ESRI to reach 5.8%, completely erodes this increase.

Inflation is not just a threat to personal living standards, however. People have no desire to become poor and will always seek to regain the ground lost to inflation. That is why the PPF, designed to last for three years, is already redundant after three months. This incompetent Government, by its failure to tackle inflation, has undermined its own wage agreement. It will not be able to hold the pay line, and wage demands geared to win back the ground lost to inflation will undermine the competitiveness of the economy.

Our prosperity has been export led. Competitiveness is the main ingredient of Ireland's growth and if it is eroded the virtuous circle which takes us forward will become the vicious circle that winds our economy down. Just as Nero fiddled while Rome burned, the Minister for Finance fiddles while his forecasts are overtaken by the rising tide of inflation, and the economic policy of the Government and the prosperity of the country disintegrates.

The last budget was the wrong budget at the wrong time. The stimulatory effect of the budget announced on budget day was fanned by the second and third budgetary announcements forced on the Minister for Finance by his own backbenchers and the social partners. The budget, together with the unprecedented expansion of credit, has pushed the economy forward at an unprecedented pace and inflationary pressures are now threatening prosperity. The Minister for Finance ignored the advice of the Opposition, the NESC and independent commentators when he decided to give the most significant tax relief to persons who are already well off and to give very moderate tax relief to persons on low and middle income. If extra consumer spending is given to the well off, it fuels a consumer boom, if given to the poor, it goes on the necessities of life to lift people out of poverty.

The Minister for Finance ignores advice. He is self-willed beyond belief and his arrogance will be his downfall. Mr. Churchill once complimented the pilots who won the Battle of Britain by saying: "Never had so much been done for so many by so few." We could parody these words and apply them to the Minister for Finance on budget day – never had so little been done for so many by a Minister with so much, with such disastrous consequences. One example tells the story. If instead of introducing his much vaunted individualisation of income tax the Minister had increased the range of the standard rate band and doubled it in the traditional manner for married persons, his income tax package would have cost an additional £130 million. However, his compensationary measure actually cost £125 million, resulting in virtually no savings. It is not a question of the Government having wrong policies, it has been quite clear in recent months that it has no policies at all and that the Minister for Finance is willing to allow the ship of State to be blown hither and thither by the winds of market forces.

The Minister for Finance is an advocate of the free market. After years of intervention in the economy by various Administrations, the Minister is willing to allow the market to decide on most issues. Free market economics is now the norm. We would have to go back to the end of the last century to find a situation where practically all countries in the world followed variations of free market economics and were wedded to capitalism. There is no doubt that when the Berlin Wall fell it was not so much the triumph of democracy but the triumph of capitalism. A free market and capitalism are now also the accepted ideologies in Ireland and worldwide.

Despite our prosperity, the free market and Fianna Fáil's eventual embrace of capitalism, prosperity is not available to very many people and many people are profoundly unhappy. They are not sharing in the Celtic tiger. Reductions in capital gains tax to 20% or a commitment to a standard rate of corporation tax of 12.5% touches neither the lives nor imaginations of most ordinary people. Ireland needs a new social contract, a commitment that all will share in the current prosperity, not only through increased wages and reduced taxes but also in the availability of proper public services. The people need and expect a health service where people do not die on waiting lists or where patients wait all night in casualty for attention. The people need and expect an education service which eliminates the disgrace of one in seven of our people not properly learning to read or write. They need and expect that they and their sons and daughters can live in affordable homes which they own and that, now that we have the resources, the infrastructure of a modern economy will be provided, the traffic chaos will be relieved, the environment will be preserved and the stress is taken out of daily living by a competent Government using the resources available to provide essential services.

With a bit of forward planning by the previous Administration—

Where are the Minister's colleagues – gone to confession?

The failure of the Government to address the real needs of the people, together with their incompetence and arrogance, are the real reasons for the collapse of this Administration. The fact that the failure, incompetence and arrogance are being played out against the background of public sleaze and a belief that Fianna Fáil will not sever its roots with the Haughey era is ensuring that this disastrous Government is unelectable. It is time the Minister of State joined his colleagues, left the House, called an election and put it to the test. It is a washed up Administration.

Last week the Deputy wanted a new party leader.

The 23% Government.

The Cabinet is totally incapable of providing the good government required by the country and to which those who live here are entitled. Like a punch drunk boxer, the Government is stumbling from one crisis to another and is incapable of either coherent action or coherent thought. It is forever looking over its shoulder, never quite sure when the next self-inflicted disaster will strike. The serious business of governing the country and addressing a broad range of economic, social and health issues is constantly disrupted by Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State and backbench members of Fianna Fáil presenting themselves variously as actors in a political drama or as figures of political fun in a sum mertime pantomime. Tragically for the country, we are now witnessing GUBU 2000, a political revival show of the 1980s.

GUBU rides again.

The extraordinary events of recent weeks have demonstrated conclusively that it is time this rotten Government left office. Across a broad range of fronts it is in total disarray. It is permanently engaged in fire brigade politics, constantly trying to douse daily brush fires of political corruption, half truths and incompetence which are revealed.

The public rightly want something that should be simple and straightforward, decent standards in politics and the exposure and criminal prosecution of those accused of wrongdoing. Instead of rescuing politics from the mire into which it descended under the leadership of Charles Haughey, the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have further debased politics by a mixture of foolishness and old-fashioned, discredited, Fianna Fáil cuteness.

The Taoiseach's professed commitment to ethics in politics has no credibility in the context of his party continuing to be propped up in Government by the votes in the House of Deputies who have resigned from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party under a cloud of financial impropriety. The Taoiseach's many public commitments to fully co-operate with the Moriarty and Flood tribunals and to furnish to them all documentation and information of relevance under the control of the Fianna Fáil Party or of which he is aware is totally discredited by today's events at the Moriarty tribunal. The Taoiseach's and the Tánaiste's previous commitments to a new transparency and accountability in public life are totally undermined by their nomination and support for Hugh O'Flaherty's appointment to the European Investment Bank while he refuses to comprehensively explain to a committee of the House his role in the Sheedy affair.

The Tánaiste's continued support for the Taoiseach after today's events in the Moriarty tribunal will, in the eyes of the general public, finally demolish the claim by the Progressive Democrats to be the public's moral conscience in Government.

During the lifetime of the Government we have had two different Ministers for Health and Children. Despite the differences in style, both have proved themselves totally incapable of properly managing our health services. Crisis management and fire brigade style interventions when emergencies regularly arise due to a lack of adequate planning are daily features of our health service. Thousands of patients have been left languishing on hospital waiting lists and have totally lost confidence in our health services. Some have been on waiting lists during the entire three year lifetime of the Government. Thousands of children have been waiting years on orthodontic waiting lists for essential dental care, with no possibility of it being provided in the foreseeable future. More than 1,000 children reported to health boards as at risk of child abuse remain at risk due to a lack of staff and resources to provide essential protection. Many women giving birth in our maternity hospitals are deprived of epidural services due to a shortage of anaesthetists. Elderly patients wait for days on trolleys in accident and emergency units of our hospitals because there are no hospital beds available for them. Due to medical and nursing shortages planned operations are regularly postponed and operating theatres are underutilised.

The Government's confrontational style of industrial relations has resulted in an unprecedented number of industrial disputes in our health services and the first ever nurses' strike. The Government's failure to address the very real concerns of junior doctors not only resulted in unnecessary confrontation but also in many junior doctors taking up employment outside the State and has directly contributed to essential medical posts within our hospitals remaining unfilled.

While professing a commitment to reduce smoking related diseases, the Government refuses to make nicotine replacement therapy available to medical card holders or to provide for it under the drug payment scheme. Despite a public outcry, the promised inquiry into the removal and retention of children's organs has still not commenced due to the Government's failure to properly address the concerns of bereaved parents.

In short, in three years in office the Government has failed to put patients first and properly implement any element of health or child care policy. Its talk of upholding ethics in politics has not been matched by the behaviour of members of Fianna Fáil. I spoke to many members of Fianna Fáil when canvassing in Tipperary and they are sickened by the daily revelations and scandals, and will be further sickened by today's events. The people deserve better. The result of the Tipperary South by-election conclusively confirms that the Government has lost the support of a majority of the electorate. It is time for it to go.

History will not be kind to Fianna Fáil, particularly on its actions since the 1980s. It would make very poor material for a marriage bureau. For whatever reason, Fianna Fáil seems to have a batchelor mentality in its dealings with its junior coalition partner, with which it always finds itself at loggerheads. Mr. Haughey viewed the Progressive Democrats with contempt. Deputy Albert Reynolds said they were only a "temporary little arrangement" and also tried to undermine the Labour Party. It is hard to know what the Taoiseach is up to, but it looks as if there is to be another purge of Fianna Fáil's junior coalition partner. The question that many people are asking is why should this happen only to Fianna Fáil Taoisigh.

Fianna Fáil has a record of which it cannot be proud. It does not want to share power or secrets at the Cabinet table and it seems it will always engineer ways and means that will eventually lead to its junior coalition partner either pulling out or being shoved out for a variety of reasons. It does not have the mentality or capability to enter or remain in government with anybody else. Single party rule always suited it. Now that the public knows what it did, it will be a long time before it is in that position again.

The consequence of this is in-fighting in the Government and once this starts it is on autopilot. It will not take the proper decisions and will not see the wood for the trees. There will be no planning for the future. On his taxation onslaught in the budget on married women working in the home, were it not for the fact that the Minister for Finance had so much money available to him he would have started World War III – he has started several since.

The economy is strong in spite of the Government. Any planning for the future has been short-changed because the Government is transfixed by tribunals, court cases and internal bickering. The sooner it goes, the better for the people. This is in sharp contrast to the Government led by Deputy John Bruton. Everyone said that it would not stay together, but its members were as friendly on the last day as on the first. That is something the last three Fianna Fáil Taoisigh will never be able to say.

It was the people who made the decision.

Mr. Hayes

Since coming to office the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government has presided over the worst housing crisis in the history of the State. Three years into the life of the Dáil and following a succession of failed Government initiatives to curb house price inflation, it is now accepted that the housing crisis is the Government's Achilles heel. The quarterly housing statistics bulletin published yesterday by the Minister of State, Deputy Molloy, highlighted further the extent of the problem affecting first-time buyers and those who have been squeezed out of the housing market. The Minister of State had the brass neck to take some comfort from the fact that house prices in the Dublin area seem to have moderated in the first four months of the year. He told us, "The reversal of house price inflationary trends was most welcome and was clear evidence that the Government's actions were contributing to increasing stabilisation in the market." It now costs over £160,000 to purchase a new house in the Dublin market and in excess of £126,000 nationwide. This, in effect, excludes every person in the State on average income who aspires to purchase his or her own home. For the Minister of State and his colleagues to make congratulatory statements about the impact of their policy to date is a cruel joke on the hundreds of thousands desperately in need of accommodation.

The situation in respect of those who require social housing has deteriorated rapidly since the Government came to office. In three years we have seen a doubling of the number of applicants who require local authority housing. It is estimated that more than 130,000 men, women and children are looking for housing from their respective local authorities. Ireland was once proud of the fact that a significant percentage of our housing output was for low-income families who could not afford to purchase a house in the private market. Under the Government that proud record has been tarnished. The reality of three generations of one family living in an overcrowded house is now commonplace in council or corporation estates. The Government's response is a disjointed and ineffective plan to throw money at the problem without delivering additional housing units at affordable prices to couples on low and average incomes. I have said to the Minister of State on numerous occasions that if he has no faith in the ability of some local authorities to build local authority houses, he should take over their building programmes. Attempting to shed the blame for the crisis in the local authority sector is his last desperate bid.

There can be little doubt that the third Bacon report will drive up rents in the private rental sector. This will be felt most by those on fixed incomes and, in particular, by the elderly, students and returned emigrants who require temporary accommodation. The Government's response to the latest Bacon report which will, in effect, push tenants out of the private rental sector makes little sense when an expansion of the sector is required. The tax package before the House will have a significant inflationary impact on the economy at a time when the Government has failed to provide modern legislation to protect tenants and update tenancy agreements. It has failed to produce significant results in its three years in office.

Unlike Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats, Fine Gael believes that the housing crisis can be solved. That is the reason we have outlined in our proposals to date a comprehensive national housing strategy, which would free up land for the housing market, introduce international tendering for housing developments, designate new centres for rapid expansion of housing output, provide community facilities at the first stage of new housing developments, deliver on our commitments to increase the number of social housing units for those squeezed out of the market, introduce consumer protection legislation to the housing market and provide for fair rents and expansion of the private rental sector. The housing crisis can be resolved as soon as the Government leaves office. The future prosperity of the country is dependent upon politics delivering affordable houses for an expanding labour force. Unlike Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats, we will take responsibility for our actions and we will deliver results.

The Government has failed to understand or deal with the child care crisis. This is exposed this evening when it announced an investment of just £40 million in child care. In 1999, it was estimated that investment in excess of £200 million was necessary. However, because of the vastly deteriorating situation, that figure is nearer £300 million. In this context, an investment of £40 million will go only a little way towards tackling the crisis.

It is also a disgrace that the Government has failed to publish the review of the report prepared by the Partnership 2000 expert group on child care. The report, published in January 1999, was followed by the appointment of a review group which was given six months to set out the practical implications of its recommendations in policy terms for the Government. Ten months after the deadline the Government's silence is deafening.

The Government's foot dragging, squabbling and inertia in decision-making has helped prolong the child care crisis. Thousands of working parents with young children have been left high and dry. Nothing short of emergency measures are needed to radically tackle this issue. A staggering 4,000 child care places have been lost since the introduction of regulations under the Child Care Act, 1996. Such a loss is an immediate cause of concern. Child care is needed by many families today. That includes full-time and part-time working parents and parents who work exclusively in the home.

Under this Government Ireland has become an increasingly stressful place in which to raise children. Every family faces growing pressure. From the moment a child is born, its day and that of its parents is filled with a series of stresses arising from the increasingly difficult living conditions that have become the norm. Under the Government, children as much as adults must cope with broken footpaths and inadequate public transport services. They journey to school by car because their parents do not trust the public transport system. This aggravates traffic congestion. They play in public parks that are fouled by dogs against whose owners the law is not enforced. They are afraid to take bicycles onto the road because of the lack of cycle lanes and poor road maintenance.

Where both parents of a child must work outside the home – 42% of younger mothers are in employment – the stress of raising a child begins within weeks of birth, as soon as maternity or paternity leave ends. The Government has failed to introduce local authority planning guidelines which would facilitate the provision of child care in residential areas. It has also failed to respond to the proposal by Fine Gael to increase child care benefit for children under the age of five to £25 per week. Not only do children deserve it, but it is fair to all children because it guarantees that all children are treated equally, whether they are in receipt of child care or are being looked after at home by a parent, grandparent or other rela tive. Paid child care should not be a privilege over unpaid child care or vice versa. The choice should be for each family. The Government has failed totally on this issue and its proposal this evening is pathetic.

I am glad to see a second member of the Government arriving for this debate. I regret the absence of the rest of the Government. It shows the same contempt for Parliament as it has shown to the public.

In the past five years this society has undergone the kind of change that would normally occur in 50 years. In such circumstances strong Government and leadership is needed. The public has looked to politicians and, in normal circumstances, could expect from Government the kind of direction that is needed. However, it is not getting it from this Government and has not got it since it took office. The Government has been riven with division, suspicion and allegation. When it is not reacting to and putting a spin on breaking scandals from without, it is watching its back from within.

From the outset the Government has displayed no vision and no view of what society wants. There has been no leadership, no direction and no view of what we should do with our new found wealth or how we should channel prosperity to benefit all our citizens. How can there be when the Government spends its time looking over its shoulder? When it makes decisions it is held to ransom and forced to reverse them by the demands of Independent Deputies on whom it is dependent.

At a time of rapid change we need decisions about major issues. There should not merely be concern with how we sustain growth levels and respond to the barriers and constraints that will normally emerge in an economy at a time like this, we also need decisions on how, as individuals and a society, we adjust to the phenomenal changes that are occurring.

People have seen higher incomes but they are not seeing a better quality of life. No wonder the public is cynical and no wonder it regards politicians as irrelevant when it sees a Government with its coffers overflowing with money but paralysed on all the issues that impact on the quality of life. There have been many reports on housing, yet young people see their chance of owning their own home becoming ever more unlikely. Those who are lucky enough to buy are travelling distances that are untenable. What is that doing to their quality of life, to their children and to the environment?

My colleague issued a statement today about the thousands of child care places that have been lost. It is not just the physical care for children that is at issue. How do we nurture children in this new society? Has the Government any ideas in this area?

With regard to the crime figures, our sons and daughters cannot walk safely on the streets of the so-called entertainment capital of Europe, nor can visitors. This is the Government that was to give us zero tolerance.

Waste management is another issue of vital importance at a time of change when the economy and the population is expanding. The Government has given no leadership on this issue. As with all hard decisions that must be made, the Government has walked away.

I have repeatedly spoken about the traffic issue in this House. The Government appears to have no view on the issue and appears to regard it as a joke that people should be concerned about it. Traffic is a fundamental quality of life issue for the vast majority of citizens. It is destroying our quality of life and is causing stress beyond belief for families who are wasting hours of their days. Every simple job is made more difficult. In the next 15 years – most of the change will take place in the next five years – peak hour traffic journeys will increase from 250,000 to 500,000 per day. This will require a 450% increase in the level of public transport. Nothing is being done to prepare for that. Given this, the forecast increase in the number of peak hour journeys will never materialise because people will make other decisions. Investors will move elsewhere and jobs will be lost. Nobody will have work to travel to unless the Government makes changes now.

Every now and then the Government has a rush of blood to the head and makes a decision, like it did last November on the issuing of taxi licences for Dublin when it proposed to solve all problems overnight. The end result of that short-term gimmick to get publicity in the run-up to Christmas is that not a single taxi licence has been issued. It ended up in the courts on the basis that it was an anti-competitive move. Anybody could have told the Government in advance that its proposal had already been looked at and rejected. On all these issues and on the many I have been unable to speak about, the Government is out of touch because its energies are totally consumed with fighting a rearguard action to stay in office for even one more day.

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"notes the major progress made over the last three years in addressing fundamental issues of concern to all communities throughout the country and in particular:

the restoration of ceasefires, the negotiation and implementation of an agreement which can help build a lasting and just peace and the major breakthrough on arms achieved this week;

the implementation of employment action plans and economic policies which have led to the creation of almost 300,000 jobs, a dramatic reduction of unemploy ment from 10% to 4.6% and of long-term unemployment from 5% to 1.7%;

the publication and funding of the National Development Plan 2000-2006 which provides the blueprint for sustainable social and economic development and the first serious targeting of resources towards developing all regions;

the decision to prepare the first ever national spatial strategy;

the provision of £20 billion for the development of public infrastructure, such as roads, public transport, water and waste-water services, environmental protection, telecommunications, energy, housing and health;

the provision of over £250 million as part of the first ever national child care package;

the increase of pensions by £18 compared to £7 during the previous Government's term;

the introduction of tax cuts, which have meant real increases in take home pay for all sections of the labour force;

the implementation of an unprecedented programme to reform and develop local government;

the publication, this week, of the Standards in Public Offices Bill, 2000, which will provide a permanent mechanism for addressing allegations against office holders and the preparation of a series of other measures;

the implementation of a series of initiatives which have increased the number of housing units being built by almost one-third and have provided almost £7 billion for a multi-annual social housing programme;

the development of an integrated policy to improve traffic management in Dublin;

the unprecedented decrease in crime figures of 21%;

the increase of direct funding of schools by almost two-thirds, the hiring of 2,500 new teachers, the reduction of primary class sizes to their lowest ever level and the provision of unprecedented supports for pupils with special needs;

the successful negotiation of Agenda 2000 and the restoration of live cattle trade and the creation of positive conditions which will underpin farm incomes into the future;

the introduction of the highest minimum wage in Europe;

the increase in health funding by an unprecedented 56% and treatment of 70,000 more people per annum; and

the fact that this progress has been achieved over a short period and involved replacing the record of a previous Government which inter alia:

failed to tackle the crime problem;

refused to take any measure to address housing shortages;

under-invested in the health service and cut back funding for the reduction in public waiting lists;

had no policy for investing in public transport, rail safety or other elements of an integrated transport system;

froze school funding and voted to cutback teacher numbers;

implemented child care policies which have caused a reduction in child care places; and

gave no significant increases in pensions.".

I wish to share my time with the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Martin, and Deputy Power.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

To listen to some of the Opposition, one would think one was living somewhere else. The Fine Gael motion talks about abysmal "failure to adequately address any of the fundamental problems facing the country", but nowhere was that more characterised under the previous Administration than regarding Northern Ireland policy, particularly the policy pursued by the then Taoiseach, the person who puts himself forward as a putative Taoiseach for the future, Deputy John Bruton.

Since the Government came to office, bringing a just and lasting peace to all the people of this island has been our highest priority. Our record and our achievements in this regard stand for themselves. We have overseen truly momentous developments, bringing the vision of an Ireland in which all its people and its traditions are united in partnership and peace, of which others have spoken, closer than at any time in our history. From the work of our very early days in office to the unprecedented developments that have taken place this week, the Government has dedicated itself to advancing the peace process and achieving the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, the democratic will of the people of Ireland. Peace, for too long an unrealised dream, has become an everyday reality.

It has not been an easy journey, but we have come a long way and we have further to go. When we took office in June 1997, the IRA ceasefire had broken down and the future of the peace process was uncertain. Through skilful and painstaking work, we secured the restoration of the ceasefire, putting us back on track for the substantive multi-party talks which began in Belfast in September 1997. The Government, under the visionary leadership of the Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, played a central and vital role in the long and difficult negotiations that led to the tragedies of the past being left behind us. A chance to build together a future in tolerance and mutual respect, where we can all pursue our legitimate political aspirations through peaceful and democratic means, is a legacy of which the Government is proud.

The Agreement was endorsed by all the people of Ireland, North and South, in the referendums of May 1998. In voting for it in such overwhelming numbers, the people made it their own. In the period since, we have never stinted in our efforts to deliver to them the realisation of all that the Agreement promised. We are close to achieving that goal.

We have overseen historic constitutional change. The new text of Article 2 of the Constitution has given a modern expression to our most basic and enduring values, defining the Irish nation in the most open, inclusive and non-coercive manner, entitling all the people born on the island of Ireland to citizenship on an equal basis.

We removed for ever any notion that the Irish people do not wish to see unity by consent of the people, North and South. It can only be achieved peacefully and democratically.

These changes have, of course, been matched by changes in British constitutional legislation which also enshrine consent and, for the first time, now have a clear mechanism to give effect to any majority wish for a united Ireland in the future. We have also overseen the creation of a new set of institutions to reflect the new beginning to relationships on these islands promised by the Agreement.

For those who have watched the conduct of Northern politics down the years, the low-key, professional and businesslike approach of the Executive and the Assembly have been a revelation. The Executive, under the joint stewardship of David Trimble and Séamus Mallon, has succeeded in demonstrating fully that the values underpinning the Agreement – partnership, mutual respect and equality – can be brought to bear in a meaningful and practical way for the benefit of Nationalists and Unionists. The long-awaited real politics has begun with local and locally accountable Ministers taking decisions on matters of importance and significance in the lives of the people of Northern Ireland.

Similarly, the Assembly has been working well. Like any other elected body, it has seen its share of robust debate, but I have been deeply impressed by the manner in which parliamentarians from all perspectives and backgrounds have been approaching their work with diligence, commitment and enthusiasm.

As a member of the Fianna Fáil Party and the Government, I take particular pride in the role we have played in developing mutual understanding and reconciliation and in broadening and deepening co-operative connections between both parts of this island.

The North-South Ministerial Council has brought that work to a new plane. The fact that Ministers from both jurisdictions have been meeting regularly and frequently to the point where such meetings have become almost unremarkable is, in itself, an astounding example of the progress which has been made under this Government and no other in ensuring that those institutions were set up, accounted for and agreed by all.

The implementation bodies are up and running. The British-Irish Council and the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference are carrying forward the substantial programmes of work they have identified for themselves. We have transformed that political landscape in which we, as a Government, operate. Our journey has not always been smooth, and we have encountered many obstacles and overcome many setbacks.

No one issue has proved more difficult to resolve than the question of arms. As Deputies will be aware, the key to this issue, on both sides, has been trust that the institutions will be operated in good faith, and confidence that the question of arms will be dealt with.

When I took up office earlier this year, the narrow ground of decommissioning and devolution, the ground Deputy Bruton likes to plough day in and day out, had been ploughed and ploughed again, but had failed to yield the progress we needed to secure. It was my belief then, as it is now, that the only way in which the objectives of all sides can be achieved is by broadening the debate to encompass the full implementation of all aspects of the Agreement and not being afraid to say so.

That is the view that we took in our discussions with the British Government and with the parties which concluded successfully with the restoration of the Executive and the Assembly at the end of last month. In our statement with the British Government of 5 May and in our letter to the parties we set out how and when outstanding aspects of the Agreement for which we have responsibility will be taken forward. We called on others to make their intentions clear, and the IRA responded in its statement of 6 May, setting out the context in which it will put its arms permanently and verifiably beyond use and putting in place the confidence building measure which was delivered this week.

The report of the two independent inspectors, President Maarti Ahtisaari and Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, that they have inspected a number of IRA dumps and that the weapons contained in them are secure is without historic precedent. Together with the IRA's announcement that it has re-engaged with the de Chastelain Commission, it makes a significant contribution to building and sustaining confidence that all commitments will be honoured and all aspects of the Agreement will be implemented. I have said on many occasions that I want to see decommissioning happen as soon as possible, but I have also frequently observed that it is a voluntary act and will only be achieved on that basis.

As the Taoiseach said, the developments of recent days represent an extremely significant movement forward in the consolidation of peace and political accommodation and present us with a bridge to the achievement of full implementation of the Agreement. We have made remarkable progress since taking office and the Government puts that record before the people proudly and without equivocation. We are not complacent, nor can we afford to be because difficult issues exist which still need to be addressed.

We will continue to work to achieve a representative, accountable and effective police service in Northern Ireland. In this regard, the House will be aware of the intensive work in which we have been engaged to ensure that the legislation before the Parliament at Westminster remains true to the report brought forward by the Patten Commission.

In other areas of foreign policy we are fully committed to our campaign for non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council for the two year term 2001-02. We have just successfully concluded a six month term as Chair of the Committee of Ministers which I shared with my predecessor, Deputy Andrews. We have achieved an excellent initiative launched by my predecessor, Deputy Andrews, in the area of nuclear disarmament which has gone unnoticed in this House and elsewhere. We achieved outstanding success at the recent Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference in New York. The proposals of the New Agenda Coalition, in which Ireland has been playing a lead role, not only secured widespread support but became the basis of the agreed final declaration of the conference. For the first time, the nuclear weapons states have made an explicit commitment to nuclear disarmament and have accepted a programme in this regard. That is a major achievement for Irish diplomacy.

Our commitment to work in support of international peace and security has also been fully reflected in our approach to European security and defence which has been characterised by dynamism, direction and decisiveness. The Government ensured that an Irish contingent would play an active part in the peacekeeping operation authorised by the UN after the Kosovo war and we did that quickly and without hesitation. The approach the Government has taken in the EU debate on a common foreign security and defence policy is that the European Union is developing a defence role, but not in mutual defence. Some people in the House continually try to portray their defence of Irish interests as trying to avoid a mutual defence role for Ireland in the European Union. It is not on the agenda. We are talking about developing a role in peacekeeping and crisis management consistent with the Petersberg Tasks and Irish foreign policy traditions of successive Governments. It is time the nonsense from those people in the House ended.

There are areas of activity concerning the intergovernmental conference which we discussed in an earlier debate and we will refer to them in greater detail again. We will always see the prospect of enhanced co-operation as something which requires greater clarity as to the areas where it might apply because we want to see adequate safeguards in place to ensure and protect the achievements of the Union, such as the Single Market and the Common Foreign and Security Policy. We have outlined in detail our negotiating position on those matters and we are prepared to negotiate confidently on those.

Development aid is also a responsibility of my Department and we are putting to Government for consideration ways and means by which we can meet in coming years the UN proposed target for development aid of 0.7% of GNP. That is something the Government will seek to address. On international trade and widening our diplomatic remit, given recent announcements in Norway and Asia, we have seen the implementation of far-sighted policies which will bring great benefits to our country in terms of international trade and, more importantly, our political position in the world.

We are pursuing our objectives regarding Northern Ireland and the European Union agenda in a clear, unambiguous and consistent way and we make no apology to anyone for doing so. Regardless of the difficulties, we are obtaining results which confirm progress in policy areas which are complex. There is no complacency on our part regarding the continuing issues of concern and we will continue to contribute positively so that real change for the better occurs consistent with the interests of our people. I commend the Government's amendment to the House.

Three years into the life of this Government we have much of which to be proud. Is féidir linn a bheith bródúil as an obair atá déanta againn. Tá an tír seo athraithe agus feabhsaithe, agus tá sé réidh don mílaois nua. These were three short years where peace was restored and reinforced, where prosperity surged and unemployment and crime tumbled, where the lives of countless thousands of Irish men, women and children were improved. More than this, these were three short years when the empty rhetoric of the type we see in the Opposition motion was replaced with concrete, sustainable and creative action.

Tá an Rialtas seo ag obair ar son na ndaoine – gach duine sa tír. At the core of our policies has been a commitment to real action on socially progressive policies which have combined major increases in resources with new approaches which are already making a major impact. I wish to address the issues of health and education which have been raised by the Opposition. Before June 1997, no fiscal crisis existed, but we had a Government which froze school funding and wanted to cut back teacher numbers. We had a Government which spent £250,000 going to the Supreme Court in an attempt to deny a child special education supports. We had a Government which wanted to spend £40 million on a bureaucracy to extend State control of schools at the same time that these controls were being abandoned by the rest of the world.

After three years, the people have seen what can come from a Government which has a real commitment to education. The Government has put in place the largest concentrated programme in the history of the State to modernise education, increased direct funding of schools by almost two thirds, is hiring 2,500 new teachers and has reduced primary class sizes to their lowest ever level. The schools information technology programme, IT 2000, is one of the largest initiatives of its type in the world and, such is its success, each of the specific three year targets for the first phase were met or exceeded after only two years. The second phase of this programme was launched in November 1999 and funded to the extent of £81 million.

Our aim is the elimination of educational disadvantage. Last December £194 million was allocated specifically for that purpose. The New Deal – A Plan for Educational Opportunity involves every level of the educational system, including pre-schools, adult literacy and Traveller education. The plan provides funding for a complete revision of targeted disadvantage funding for schools. This plan represents social inclusion in action. In addition to continuing support for primary schools already designated as disadvantaged, a comprehensive survey is being carried out on every primary school in the country to identify levels of educational disadvantage. With the results in hand, we will, from September 2000, deliver a new targeted support package to disadvantaged primary pupils.

Pupils at risk of dropping out of school, who are often condemned to cycles of disadvantage thereafter, have been targeted for special attention by this Government We have continued to provide funding for a series of initiatives to identify those children aged between eight and 15 who are at risk of dropping out. The Education (Welfare) Bill marks a radical change in school attendance legislation and will ensure a nationally and locally co-ordinated approach to school attendance. Exam fees for all families who hold a medical card have been abolished. Youthreach and Traveller training courses targeted at 15 to 18 year old early school leavers have been expanded, and counselling, guidance and child care services have been introduced for these programmes.

We also aim for a health system of the highest quality which is accessible to the poorest of our citizens without undue delay or inconvenience. Waiting lists are being reduced. The figures for the first quarter in 2000 indicate a reduction of almost 2,500. A month ago I launched a £10 million plan to reduce them further. This money will enable an additional 7,600 waiting list procedures to be performed by the end of the year. Following detailed discussions with health agency chief executive officers, we have agreed another series of measures to reduce the waiting lists further. In addition, a review of bed capacity in the acute and non-acute hospital sector is under way which will enable a more informed approach to be taken to address infrastructural issues which may impinge on the ability of hospitals to achieve target average waiting times. That review is actively under way and will produce results quickly.

However, problems exist in our health service and, while we do not attempt to deny it, unlike the Opposition we are not trying to sell the false promise of easy answers. We are providing funding, reforming service provision and radically expanding services for key groups such as the elderly and people with disabilities. There are problems with staffing and we are striving to solve them. We are working with health professionals to build a new approach to manpower relations within the sector. Unlike the Opposition when it was in Government, we are trying to find long-term solutions to long-term problems.

The Government has increased total health spending by 58% in only three years and increased the capital allocation to health by 35% this year alone. It is investing £2 billion under the national development plan. That is a trebling of funding, an unprecedented investment, the thrust of which is the creation of an infrastructure which will bring significant and tangible advances in delivering more patient-centred and accessible services.

We must pay tribute to my predecessor, Deputy Brian Cowen, for the significant advance in investment in health that was realised during his tenure in office. That will have a lasting impact on the quality of our health infrastructure and will lead to the development of a modern service.

Fundamentally, the Government puts the patient first. It focuses on individuals, not systems, on preventative care, not disease management, on a seamless and unified, as opposed to a fragmented, service.

Three years into the life of this Government we have much to be proud of. It is a Government which is delivering on the policies that matter to the people, the building of a lasting peace, the ending of mass emigration and unemployment. Our success in reducing unemployment has been staggering over the past three years and has been deliberately underestimated by the Opposition. The era of long-term unemployment has been almost eradicated. That issue dogged the rainbow Government and it did not succeed in tackling it in a meaningful way.

Every section of society has received significant increases in income, whether in the workforce or out of it. The last Government's inaction and complacency in housing, public transport, education and health have been replaced. There has been significant reform of the taxation system and a comprehensive programme of legislation which has had, and continues to have, a significant impact on the quality of people's lives. The fact that the public have consistently refused to be fooled by the empty promises and shallow rhetoric of the Opposition shows the basic fact that they recognise the progress which has been made on these and many other issues.

Is féidir linn bheith bródúil as an obair atá déanta againn. Tá an tír seo athraithe agus tá sí feabhasaithe. Tá an-chuid oibre le déanamh againn fós agus admhaímid sin ach tá muid réidh chun na hoibre sin a dhéanamh agus tá muid sásta á déanamh. Tá an tír seo réidh leis an mhílaois nua.

The motion before the House condemns the Government's failure to adequately address any of the fundamental problems facing the State. The last two weeks have not been good for the Government and it is understandable that an Opposition party would try to capitalise on that. If one looks at the overall performance of the Government since it entered office three years ago, however, there are many fine achievements. Many of the fundamental problems facing the State, the issues dominating the last general election campaign, have been dealt with by the Government in an efficient manner. We can be proud of the achievements of the past three years.

What looked like a dream in Northern Ireland three years ago has become a reality. Within a few weeks of taking office, the ceasefire was restored. The Good Friday Agreement was signed and is now being implemented. The announcement yesterday of a breakthrough in the arms issue offers an opportunity for real peace.

Northern Ireland has been the single biggest problem for any Government to deal with for the past 30 years, and Fianna Fáil is the only party with credibility in this area. We have an understanding of the issue which was fundamental to the change that has taken place and we played a major part in the success that has been achieved. The Minister for Foreign Affairs reminded us earlier that it is not over and there are many hurdles remaining, but we are on the path to peace and success awaits us all.

There has been a wonderful change in the employment situation. The number of people unemployed has fallen from 10% to 5%. There are those who do not like to give the Government credit for that, but in the past we were blamed when high unemployment figures prevailed. Every week 1,000 people return to the State to take up employment – that is the biggest vote of confidence people can give a Government – and the indications are that this trend will continue for some time to come.

In Opposition, Fianna Fáil identified crime as a major issue. We drew up plans and policies to deal with the problem and at the first opportunity we delivered. We have implemented anti-crime measures which have succeeded in bringing about a 21% reduction in crime. We have increased the numbers in the Garda Síochána. The Government continues to provide funds for community groups and crime prevention projects which are a necessary part of tackling the causes of crime. Crime levels have fallen and Garda detection rates have risen.

We promised tax cuts and we have delivered. In successive budgets, personal tax rates have been reduced. We have given significant increases to social welfare recipients and people's disposable income has increased. The vast majority of people have never had it so good. The standard of living and quality of life have improved considerably for us all.

The motion before us is very critical of the manner in which the Government has dealt with Members who are involved in the tribunals. I was elected for the first time in 1989 and there were things I did not like about the goings on in my party. I took certain action on it. I tried to do what I thought was right and I will continue to do so. The tribunals taking place at present and the evidence they have been given have been very embarrassing for Fianna Fáil. We are not the only party that has been embarrassed but, unfortunately, former members of my party have been shown up in a very poor light. Thousands of ordinary members are sickened by what they have heard and read from the tribunals. It is obvious that some of the practices going on were despicable and we should let the tribunals deal with those involved. I have no intention of doing penance for the sins of former members of Fianna Fáil. No other member of the party should be asked to make that sacrifice. I am no saint and I have not seen too many haloes in this House since my election, but I have certain standards and I do not try to portray those standards as being higher than those in the Opposition parties. The vast majority of people elected to the House try their best and go about their duties in an honest and honourable way.

The public have become very cynical about the political process and the revelations at the tribunals have only served to increase that cynicism. The public perception of politicians was never so poor. We all have a duty to restore confidence in the political process. It is obvious that the provision of a booming economy is not sufficient. I am convinced there is the will in the Fianna Fáil Party to restore that confidence and I look forward to playing my part in achieving that goal.

For those reasons I am delighted to support the Government amendment. I ask Opposition Members to be more balanced. The duty of an Opposition is to pick holes in the performance of the Government, but any fair-minded person looking back over the past three years, particularly our success in Northern Ireland, would be impressed. If we worked together more often we could achieve much more.

We should not underestimate how much work needs to be done to restore confidence in the political system. It is obvious from election turn-outs that people do not have the same trust in politicians. It is vital that confidence and trust is restored.

I seek permission to share time with Deputy McManus and others.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I compliment Deputy Power on his contribution, which was in marked contrast to those of the front bench spokespersons of the Government he supports. Listening to the contribution of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, a man I admire and who is well respected, one would think that all the work on the Northern Ireland peace process was done in the past three years. No mention was made of Deputy Albert Reynolds, Mr. John Major—

We are discussing the performance of this Government.

—or anyone else. I read the Minister's script and I may be doing him a disservice but—

We are discussing the performance of the current Administration, not its predecessors.

The achievement of peace in Northern Ireland is entirely down to the Government. That is wonderful. It only took three years and they did all the work themselves. That is fantastic.

If the Deputy cannot read my script, that is his problem.

Deputy Quinn, without interruption.

Does the Deputy wish to discuss the achievements of the 1932 Government?

I am replying to the Minister's contribution. Listening to his interventions and the contribution made by the Minister for Health and Children, one would think that the Government had won the last five by-elections. One would also think that the public is widely appreciative of the transformation to which the Ministers referred and that is why it came out in numbers to elect or re-elect Fianna Fáil candidates in the last five by-elections.

I am tempted to quote the famous German playwright, Bertolt Brecht, who, after the uprising of workers in the communist state of East Germany, suggested to the central committee of the then communist party that it should pass a motion to the effect that the Government had lost confidence in the people. The unreality of the sentiments expressed by the two Ministers opposite is very reminiscent of that attitude, on a day when Deputy Healy was introduced to this House with an unprecedented electoral success behind him.

Not since the last days of the Haughey Administration have we had a Government in such disarray. Not for years have we had a Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance who have displayed such arrogance and contempt for the Dáil and for public opinion. Rarely before have we had a Government so desperate to reach the refuge of a long summer recess. Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats may well limp over the line on Friday, battered and bedraggled, looking like a group of out of condition athletes who have just run two marathons, but what is beyond doubt is that the days of this Government are well and truly numbered.

The increasing sound of dissent from within, the queue of Fianna Fáil backbenchers willing to voice their opposition to the O'Flaherty appointment, the desperate attempts by Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats to blame each other for what the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy O'Donnell, had the honesty to admit this morning was "political patronage", and the spinning and counter-spinning on behalf of the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance, each attempting to depict the others as being primarily responsible for this fiasco, these are the sounds which constitute the death rattle of the Government.

Not only has the Government lost all honour and credibility, it has lost whatever little vigour and drive it might have possessed. While most of the time of the Taoiseach and Tánaiste is being taken up in desperate efforts to keep their listing ship afloat, social and economic problems have been allowed to mount. Inflation is at its highest level for 15 years and has effectively cancelled out the benefit of the general social welfare increases granted in the budget and the pay element of the increases granted under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. People earning £40,000 per year cannot obtain a mortgage to buy a house in Dublin. There are more people than ever on local authority housing waiting lists. Hospital waiting lists have worsened since this Government was elected. The policy of zero tolerance of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Donoghue, produces nothing more than a hollow laugh from members of the public as gangland killers stalk the land and elderly people again live in terror of brutal attack in their homes.

The O'Flaherty nomination and the Government's response to it has come to symbolise all that is worst about this administration – the lack of judgment, the arrogance, the refusal to accept that it can do any wrong, the refusal to take heed of public opinion, the refusal to answer to the Dáil, the absence of any sense of solidarity between the two parties and the back-stabbing within and between the parties. The O'Flaherty affair has also galvanised public opinion and transformed a sense of doubt and unease about the Government into absolute distrust and contempt.

This is why the standing of the two people most prominently identified with the Government, the Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern and the Tánaiste, Deputy Mary Harney, is plummeting in the opinion polls and why electoral support for Fianna Fáil went into freefall in the Tipperary South by-election. The Government is long past its sell-by date. The longer it clings to power, the more the public will turn on it. The longer it refuses to accept the inevitable, the higher the electoral price Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats will pay when they face the people.

If anyone had any doubt that the Government was a failed political entity, these must surely have been dispelled by the extraordinary developments since the weekend. First, we had the astonishing case of the Tánaiste, the Deputy Taoiseach, the holder of a constitutionally recognised position, being publicly rebuked by a judge of the Circuit Court for reckless and irresponsible comments that led to the indefinite postponement of a case involving serious criminal charges against a former Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil, Charles Haughey. What made the offence even worse is that Deputy Harney made these comments and thus jeopardised the prospects of the trial going ahead simply to divert attention away from the political problems the Progressive Democrats were then experiencing.

One does not need to be an expert in international politics to recognise that in virtually any other jurisdiction reckless and irresponsible comments that led to such an outcome would almost certainly have led to the immediate resignation of the Minister who made them and had that Minister not resigned he or she would have faced instant dismissal. If this were the old days and had a Fianna Fáil Minister in a Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrat Government made similar remarks with a similar outcome, it would not have been long before there was a procession of Progressive Democrats to the Taoiseach's office demanding resignation.

According to the Progressive Democrat sense of values, the late Brian Lenihan's misjudged and unsuccessful telephone call to the then President and his befuddled handing of the controversy when it broke ten years later was a matter that demanded his resignation as Tánaiste and Minister. Today, however, reckless and irresponsible comments by the Tánaiste, Deputy Harney, which have seriously jeopardised the prospect of former Deputy Haughey ever standing trial are not even worthy of a public response from the Tánaiste or a statement to this House, not to mention a resignation from office.

The Taoiseach is not in a position to adopt a high moral stand on any issue. His own tawdry record as Taoiseach has left him without a moral leg to stand on. In his three years in office his response to virtually every controversy and question has been characterised by evasion, equivocation, half-truths, dodging and weaving and, in particular, a failure to be up-front and open with the Dáil.

On his first day in office, the Taoiseach showed gross misjudgment by appointing Ray Burke to the key position of Minister for Foreign Affairs. He continued to defend former Deputy Burke right up to his disgraced and discredited end. He forgot to tell the Tánaiste about his knowledge of the Rennicks donation to Mr. Burke. He could not remember his meetings with Mr. Gilmartin. He forgot about the cheques he signed that financed Mr. Haughey's lavish lifestyle and he misled the Dáil to cover up his own role as co-signatory of the cheques. He failed to disclose his representations to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform about Philip Sheedy and he broke his promise to the Tánaiste that he would tell the Dáil about them. He failed to take any action when Deputy Foley went to him and told him he was to be called before the Moriarty Tribunal. He failed to take any action to investigate the unsavoury activities of many Fianna Fáil councillors on Dublin County Council until his hand was forced by the Dunlop confessions.

The disclosures at the Moriarty Tribunal this morning create a new dimension of seriousness and raise the most serious questions about the Taoiseach's conduct in regard to the tribunals and his suitability to continue to act as Taoiseach. On 27 January 1999, the Taoiseach informed the Dáil that "The work of the tribunals will continue to have my full support and co-operation and that of the Government. I believe and act on the principle that any tribunal of inquiry should be entitled to have all relevant information, documentation and co-operation from me." On 9 February of this year, responding to a motion about Deputy Foley, the Taoiseach said "I reminded him [Deputy Foley] that it was Fianna Fáil policy to co-operate fully with the tribunal. I told him that the co-operation was essential and that total and full disclosure was critical."

It now appears that the Taoiseach was not living up to his words. When the story broke last Thursday I called upon him to make a full public disclosure of the facts of this situation and said that unattributable briefings by anonymous party officials from Fianna Fáil were simply not adequate. True to character, the Taoiseach failed to make any comprehensive public response and sent his officials out to dismiss the story. True to form, another Fianna Fáil investigation has proved deeply inadequate. However, lawyers for the tribunal have said that Fianna Fáil withheld crucial information regarding the donation ahead of the media disclosure last week. The Taoiseach has been summoned to appear once again before the tribunal later this week to account for this apparent withholding of information.

There is hardly a more serious charge which could be made against any Member of this House than deliberately withholding information from a tribunal which the House established. For such a charge to be made against the Head of the Government who has sought to take personal credit for establishing the tribunals is doubly serious. I have no doubt the tribunal will deal with this matter in its own way but there is also a political dimension which cannot be left to the tribunal. That must be dealt with in the Dáil by the Taoiseach coming into the House to make a full and comprehensive statement on his knowledge of the donation from Mr. Kavanagh, what happened to it, when he first learned there was a problem about it, why he failed to determine the real size of the donation and why he failed to make the tribunal aware of these developments.

The Taoiseach cannot say this is simply a matter for the tribunal. For more than two years, he maintained he could not even ask his councillors on Dublin County Council about donations in regard to rezonings but that position changed very rapidly when Frank Dunlop burst the dam at the Flood tribunal. At that stage, the Taoiseach established his own internal Fianna Fáil inquiry under the chairmanship of Deputy Rory O'Hanlon. That committee subsequently published a report which was the subject of widespread discussion.

The tribunal has recognised that there are political dimensions to some of these issues which are more appropriately dealt with in the Dáil. On 20 July last year, in the course of the Taoiseach's cross-examination, counsel for the tribunal stated "I think the tribunal doesn't want to get involved in matters which should perhaps be discussed in the Dáil.".

One of the principal characteristics of this Government is its contempt for the Dáil. Never was that more evident than last Wednesday when the Taoiseach sent the Minister for Finance into the House to answer questions about an interview which the Taoiseach had given and which Deputy McCreevy had not even heard. Some of the Minister's ministerial and backbench colleagues were shocked by his manner, attitude and demeanour last Wednesday. It would be the greatest outrage of all and the greatest possible insult to the Oireachtas if the Government were to seek the refuge of the summer recess without coming in here to deal with the two big issues about which the entire country is talking, namely the Tánaiste's comments which have jeopardised the Haughey trial and the shocking allegations which have been made involving the Taoiseach and the tribunal.

The series of events over recent weeks which have caused this Government so many problems all flowed from the decision to nominate Mr. Hugh O'Flaherty as Vice-President of the European Investment Bank. The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy O'Donnell, in a remarkably candid interview this morning, described that decision as having the capacity to poison everything it touched. Forty days on from that decision being taken, we have still not received an explanation why this Government believed the only person suitable for nomination to this key position was the man who, just 12 months earlier, had been forced out of the Supreme Court under the unprecedented threat of impeachment by the Oireachtas.

Six weeks on and in spite of all the political grief it has left in its wake, we are still not any clearer about why the original decision was made and why the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance have insisted on persisting with it, in spite of huge hostility within their own parties and in spite of the strong opposition of the overwhelming majority of the public. The question members of the public are now asking is whether there is something in this affair, some link between the key figures, some missing bit about which we are not yet aware which makes those who made and supported the nomination feel so compelled to stick with it regardless of the consequences. We only know one thing, as evidenced this evening at the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, namely that this Government is united on at least one issue – it is determined that we will not find out the answers to the questions we have posed.

Whatever the reason for the nomination, the result is a lame-duck Government led by a discredited Taoiseach and a damaged and demoralised Tánaiste. Only a general election can clear the air, re-establish the authority of the political system and give us a new Government with a fresh mandate capable of adequately dealing with the many problems facing the people.

We are living in a time of plenty which offers an unprecedented opportunity to create a really excellent quality of life for all our people. Yet, daily life is being blighted by the series of unmet needs outlined in this Fine Gael motion, the need for a roof over one's head, the hope of treatment when one is sick or suffering, the expectation that one can afford to buy a bag of groceries, the care and security of young children and the care and security of older people. Addressing these needs is the task of a Government, particularly when that Government oversees the greatest budget surplus in the history of the State. At a time of such opportunity, we do not even need a great Government to get things right, a good Government would suffice. Tragically, we have a walking disaster of a Government which, riven by dissent, suspicion and sleaze, no longer has any cohesion. It does not have any vision or dynamic nor does it have the will to govern well, if at all. Its only will is to cling on desperately and grimly.

Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats are clinging together out of a fear of the electorate. The collapse of the vote in Tipperary-South frightened Fianna Fáil backbenchers so much that they are now queuing up to condemn the O'Flaherty appointment. There is equal disarray and confusion on the PD side. The Tánaiste, who built her reputation as a champion of truth and accountability, has skulked off into the undergrowth. She has gone missing from this House now that she must take the flak rather than dole it out. The questions she must answer will persist. Her gaffe in regard to the nomination of Mr. Hugh O'Flaherty was unbelievable, her foolish comments about Mr. Charles Haughey were incredible but her current silence is most significant of all. She has made it clear that in her view sleaze and corruption belong to another era. Now that the Moriarty tribunal lawyers are recalling the Taoiseach this Friday due to the alleged concealment by Fianna Fáil of major financial dealings, the Tánaiste has nothing to say. Her silence is telling. It tells the story of a Government which has lost all credibility and all sense of purpose or direction, save the purpose of hanging on at all costs.

Meanwhile, as we speak, emergency units in our hospitals are preparing to close. A real and urgent crisis is arising due to a lack of medical manpower. When Ministers are so concerned about saving their own skins, they have little energy left to concern themselves with saving others. The sick, poor and elderly are suffering and dying not because they must and not because we cannot afford to save them but because the Government has lost its way in the mire.

I listened to the Minister for Health and Children claiming all manner of triumphs for the Government. He did not tell the truth about the waiting lists. Our waiting lists are worse now than when the Government took office. We have seen this Government preside over a nurses' strike for the first time ever. We have a shortage of junior hospital doctors who are the mainstay of our hospitals. Incredibly, we have a measles epidemic which has already taken the lives of two children. That is inexcusable in a developed country. We should have been able to eliminate measles but, due to neglect and the failure to face the reality of what it is like to be sick in this country, children are dying from a Third World disease which Third World countries are managing to control and reduce.

While this Government attempts to evade and distort the truth and spread the blame, the Labour Party is producing the goods. We are facing up to the challenges in our communities, how to house our people, how to meet their medical needs fairly and swiftly, how to ensure that those at work are not exploited and that those who come to our shores are not denied their rights. These are the issues which affect Irish people in their daily lives but they are issues which are way beyond a Government which is weighed down by internal scandals.

Debate adjourned.
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