I thank my colleague, Deputy Geoghegan-Quinn, for sharing her time with me. I want to congratulate Deputy John Bruton on his election as Taoiseach. Fortitude is a great characteristic and in Deputy John Bruton I recognise that stalwart and robust characteristic which has carried him through so many difficult times in his political career. It is an enduring characteristic which any politician is lucky to have because we live in potentially hostile times and one needs to have the garb of fortitude to enable one to travel the road. I would like to pay tribute to Deputy Lowry and Deputy Yates, whom I have already met informally, and tell them that they will need that same characteristic as they set out on this road. I have no doubt they will be well able for the task ahead of them.
In passing, but not lightly, I wish to convey my appreciation to Deputy Ruairí Quinn with whom I worked for almost two years in the Department of Enterprise and Employment. He, Deputy Séamus Brennan and I sometimes had a difficult relationship but it was always potentially satisfactory and we worked through many difficult situations together fruitfully and for the benefit of the workforce. Politically it was a new situation for me. Previously I had been the boss and I suddenly found myself having to co-operate with a person from another party with whom power was being shared. It was an experience I would not have missed.
Let me comment briefly on the negotiations. I was part of the team appointed by Deputy Bertie Ahern to deal with our opposite numbers in the Labour Party during those days of intense negotiations. One could be either miffed or pleased that so many of the points which we worked out together are now to be found in another White Paper. Much of what my colleagues and I brought to the table during those exciting days has found its way into this new programme for Government. That means our scope in Opposition will be extremely limited. However, I have already marked out the points to which we contributed and those which are new. There will always be a demand to know why the Government is not doing things more quickly and spending more and more money. This will be new to the two young men across the floor but they will find it is part and parcel of life in Government.
I want to home in on the manner in which Deputy Bertie Ahern assumed the role of Leader of the Opposition and the generous spirit in which he expressed his wishes for the Government and took his leave of what for him was potentially a hugely exciting vista opening up in front of him. I wish we had shared in that type of experience over the years but so often at the beginning and end of Governments we have seen needless, unwanted and unwarranted needling, venom and spite hurled across the floor of this Chamber.
I recall very personalised and needless attacks last week. There is no need to be venomous and to have one's pen or voice dipped in spite. One can be acerbic, witty and effective without being wounding and venomous. Deputy Ahern must be commended for the dignity with which he took on his new role. I wish other parties would pay attention to that way of doing business. One can be sharp and caustic without being wounding. There was far too much of that across the floor of the House last week.
There are two or three issues relating to employment on which I will be keeping a close watch. My Department had reached the point of setting targets for the long term unemployed and I note that the section I prepared in that regard survived intact in the new programme. We talk endlessly using platitudes about the long term unemployed but we must have quarterly if not monthly targets for the diminution of the number of long term unemployed. We give global figures and breathe a sigh of relief when unemployment figures are reduced, but within those figures there is a hard core of people who will never again go out to work. However, we had reached the point of formulating a plan. This issue can only be dealt with in a targeted manner and if that is statism and too much State involvement, so be it.
The proposals in the White Paper relating to training have also survived intact in the new programme. While a great deal of European and other money is provided in this area, much of it is ineffective, uncertifiable and does not enable a person to climb the ladder of progress from one type of certification to another, in other words, starting on a FÁS scheme and ending up with a PhD. That happens all too rarely. We must provide a level of training and certification which will enable that to happen.
I wish Deputy Richard Bruton well in his new portfolio and I will be watching him closely. I hope he proceeds with the enactment of the Consumer Credit Bill. Out of a total of 300 amendments, we had reached No. 270 over many long days and nights of work. A total of 30 amendments have yet to be dealt with as well as an important new section, which I persuaded the Government to insert, directing the transfer of surveillance of bank charges from the Central Bank to the Director of Consumer Affairs, thereby opening a chink into that mystery of banking which for many people is a citadel they are unable to storm. I hope there will not be a diminution of that point when the Consumer Credit Bill is being finalised. Deputy Bruton will meet with siren voices, in and outside Government, telling him the Bill was a silly notion of Deputy O'Rourke and that now she is no longer in office it is not necessary to proceed with it. I will be monitoring matters closely.
The Department of Enterprise and Employment will stand up to the strictest scrutiny and, like my colleague, Deputy Geoghegan-Quinn, I pay tribute to the fine public servants who work in that Department with whom I enjoyed an excellent relationship. My term in that office has been a worthy experience. I wish the Government every success in the months, not years, ahead.
