The Deputy will get his chance in about 15 years' time.
However, the personal abuse which has characterised much of the performance of the Opposition Deputies is a very poor substitute for critical examination of issues before this House. If I am to judge by the speech of Deputy Bruton yesterday, for example, he has now taken to having his policies formulated by malicious and untrue gossip columns.
I am glad, if his recent actions are anything to go by, that he has undergone a deep and, I hope, lasting conversion to the cause of the semi-State industry. As I watched his performance over the past few days, I have to admit that I found myself seriously wondering whether this was the same Deputy Bruton with whom I had many battles in the past over issues like Irish Steel, Dublin Gas, and the National Development Corporation. Could this new and caring Deputy Bruton be the same man as the one whose first response to any public sector crisis in the mid 1980s was "Close it down as fast as you can", and if that did not work, his second response normally was "Sell it off to the highest bidder"?
Deputy Harney's contribution was equally revealing. She recently spoke approvingly of compulsory work for everyone on social welfare but her attitude to the public sector seems to be new. At least Deputy Bruton changed his mind a dozen times on the issue — Deputy Harney has always been consistently, if not violently, hostile to the whole concept of the public sector. Her crocodile tears now will not fool anyone.
Let nobody be under any illusion — the Labour Party is and remains totally committed to an efficient, viable semi-State sector, which can and ought to be, as it was in the past, an important focus of sustainable development in our economy. The Labour Party's interest is to grow these companies. To achieve this, however, will means a lot of hard work by all concerned — the Government, management and the staff and workers in all these organisations.
The modern world of free trade and international competition means that State enterprises cannot be sealed off from the rest of the economy, or from widespread and often painful change that, in many cases, has to occur in response to market and technological developments. We cannot solve the problems of State enterprise, or create the basis for their future expansion and development merely by throwing money at them, although significant cash injections, as in the case of £175 million for Aer Lingus, are sometimes essential.
The difficulties facing TEAM Aer Lingus and Irish Steel are cases in point. We are determined to do everything in our power to save the maximum number of jobs in those companies and, if possible, to make them viable for the long term. No Government can do that alone. It means hours of difficult negotiation and often painful sacrifice. These are decisions that cannot be shirked, and no intimidatory tactics will force us to back away from decisions necessary for the future.
The future depends on the right decisions being taken now. We have to sort out the mandate for State companies in terms of the relationship between Government, boards, management, trade unions, and workforce in flexible and innovative ways that assist the commercial survival of the enterprise. We have no interest in formulae that are only concerned with ambitious, politically motivated directors and managements to increase their personal rewards, as in the privatisation agendas of the past.
The neglect of many of the semi-State enterprises in recent years is at the root of present troubles. The Labour Party bears no responsibility for that neglect. We are entitled to demand for the future that the managements of State companies will face the consequences of their own ineptitude.
No longer can we put up with excuses from bad management nor allow it to continue — it has no place in an open economy such as ours. We want and demand competence, prudence and responsibility from those who have been entrusted with the State's assets and the future of their staff. Second-rate management is no longer good enough.
Innovation and change are the way of the future. Competition in an increasingly open environment leaves no room for complacency. There is no semi-State company that can be guaranteed an easy ride. Our record has been one of consistent support for public enterprise. Our pledge is to maintain that support, to enable public enterprise to continue to play a dynamic role in the development of the economy as it has done since the 1930s.
I want now to say a few words about the conflict in Northern Ireland, the resolution of which remains the top priority for our Government. Earlier this week, I took the opportunity to brief the Government in detail about the intensive work that has been undertaken over recent months, by officials working under the direction of Sir Patrick Mayhew and myself, and about the detailed discussions that have taken place between the two Governments. At my suggestion, the Government has now put in place structures to carry this work forward in a detailed way with a view to, hopefully, being able to present the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister with a package of proposals for consideration when they next meet.
These proposals will not represent a solution to the Irish problem. They are not intended to. There can be no deep and lasting solution to our problems until men and women of goodwill, representing all shades of opinion on this island, are prepared to sit down together without pressure or coercion and reach compromises with each other. The compromises involved will mean both traditions being prepared to trust each other for the first time in generations. More than that, it will mean both traditions being prepared to make sacrifices in order to remove threats and perceived threats from each other.
The work that we are doing through the liaison group is designed to help set an agenda for that process. It will provide clear evidence of the commitment of both Governments to countenance deep changes, at both the institutional and constitutional level, if those changes will help, once and for all, to place the situation in Northern Ireland onto a new footing. We must arrive at a point where both traditions in Northern Ireland can live with each other and with an agreed definition of the future. The sooner we start that process the better.
No more than any other Deputy, I have no knowledge of when the beef tribunal report will be published or what it will contain. I was the first Member of this House to call for the establishment of the beef tribunal. Throughout its life, I co-operated with the tribunal to the best of my ability. Contrary to the snide innuendo of some, I have never withdrawn evidence from the tribunal and I have never withdrawn the allegations I made in this House which were investigated by the tribunal. There are no circumstances under which I, or any other member of the Labour Party which I lead, will seek to hide from, or walk away from, the implications of the report of the tribunal, whatever they might be. That report will be dealt with in a completely open and transparent way, and it will be dealt with in this House. It was this House which established the tribunal and this House has an absolute right to consider the report and to decide on the actions necessary as a result of its publication. Both I and the Labour Party will play a full and open part in those deliberations and we will not shirk whatever decisions are necessary.
