Vol. 390 No. 1
I move:
That the Ceann Comhairle direct the Clerk of the Dáil to issue his writ for the election of a member to fill the vacancy which has occurred in the membership of the present Dáil following on the resignation of Deputy Ray MacSharry, a member for the consituency of Sligo-Leitrim.".
I welcome this motion. It will give the people of Sligo-Leitrim an opportunity of expressing their dissatisfaction at this Government's failure to make any real progress against unemployment, emigration and poverty in our society. It will, of course, also give them the opportunity to vote for our candidate, Senator Gerry Reynolds, a young, able articulate and experienced public representative, who, in very sharp contrast to the Government's candidate, has the full backing of his party. We will encourage the people of Sligo-Leitrim to vote for Senator Gerry Reynolds and for the Fine Gael Party——
I hope Deputy Ellis will not say anything derogatory about Deputy Brennan.
May I advise the House that there is a very strict time limit on this debate?
Out of sheer curiosity, a Cheann Comhairle, I would be very glad to split some of my time with Deputy Ellis, because we have not heard a lot from him.
This by-election will give the people of Sligo-Leitrim an opportunity, in supporting my party's candidate, to support policies that will enable the continuation of the vital work of financial restoration without which the futures of our children and of our own unemployed would continue to be mortgaged. We will seek the agreement of the people of that constituency to have our health services restructured so that we provide health care for people in need rather than having the chaotic and wasteful over administration which obliges thousands of people in Sligo-Leitrim and elsewhere to wait for treatment. We will support the demand of those people for the reform of our social welfare system so that it becomes a weapon against poverty rather than the poverty trap and obstacle to employment which so many of our people find it is today. We will seek their approval to initiate reforms in our tax system which this Government so far has obdurately refused even to contemplate. We will seek their agreement and it will be very appropriate in the case of Sligo-Leitrim to promote agricultural policies, by which the European Communities and our own Government can truly foster the development of our family farms, the expansion of our food industries and the maintenance and protection of our countryside. We will ask the people of Sligo-Leitrim, in common with everybody in this country, to express their wish that they, the people themselves and their representatives are given their rightful and proper place in the economic and social planning of their own regions.
We know they will support our demand for properly directed and practical policies to clean up our environment, with benefit to our society generally and in particular to agriculture, industry and tourism. It is a pity that the Taoiseach has not taken this opportunity today to resolve the uncertainty that he himself has so irresponsibly created over the past couple of weeks by his half veiled mutterings and electoral threats. This would be an appropriate opportunity for the Taoiseach to make his thoughts clear, if indeed he is clear in his mind on that issue.
I support the moving of this writ. I am glad this by-election is taking place and I look forward to it being contested by the Progressive Democrats' candidate, Mr. Hugh Slevin, who I am confident will do well in it.
