I move:—
That the Government, by reason of its failure to prevent the increase in the cost of living, has lost the confidence of Dáil Éireann.
I wish to direct the attention of Deputies and particularly Deputies on the other side of the House, to the wording of this motion. It refers to the failure of the Government to prevent the increase in the cost of living. Everybody knows that the present Government claimed to have the ability and the intention to effect a reduction in the cost of living. Every Deputy sitting behind the Government owes his position in this House to the pledges which he gave to his constituents to bring about a reduction in the cost of living. The pledges given in that regard, individually and collectively, had a profound influence on the result of the general election of last year. I am sure that Deputies opposite have not yet forgotten them completely. If there is any likelihood that they have so forgotten them, reminding them of them will be a duty as well as a pleasure.
The Coalition Parties campaigned prior to the election of last year in every part of the country for the purpose of propagating two falsehoods; first, that the cost of living was rising unnecessarily and unduly by reason of the policy of the Fianna Fáil Government, and, secondly, that they could reverse that process and reduce the general level of prices. These statements were made unequivocally. No Deputy in any Coalition Party during the course of that campaign thought it adequate to use the mealy-mouthed phrase of the Taoiseach's amendment to my motion. They did not confine themselves to promising to make every effort to control increases in the cost of living "so far as the circumstances permitted".
They made prices the main issue in the election, and, on that issue, they won the election and when the contest was over and when the result was known, when the representatives of the Coalition Parties met to bargain about ministerial offices and to agree upon some programme for their administration, they issued a statement in which they admitted that the cost of living had been the main issue in the election—a statement covering many matters of public interest, but containing this, in particular, in paragraph 2:—
"Recognising that the main issue in the general election was the question of prices, the Parties forming the Government are determined to reduce the cost of living in relation to people's incomes and, in particular, to effect a reduction in the prices of essential foodstuffs."
That statement was issued after the election, on June 1st, before the Government was constituted. I direct the attention of Deputies opposite to these pre-election pledges which they made and the post-election statement they issued in conjunction with the terms of this motion.
This motion does not ask the Dáil to condemn the Government for failing to reduce the cost of living. It asks the Dáil to condemn the Government for their failure to prevent its increase. This motion is what is called a motion of confidence. It asks the Dáil to declare that it has no longer any confidence in the Government on that issue. It is probable that the confidence of those whose votes sent members of the Government here and a majority of Deputies to support them, in the expectation of a reduction in the cost of living, has long since evaporated.
In fact, the Taoiseach's amendment, stripped of its verbiage, is an indication that the Government is throwing in the sponge on this issue of prices. When the electorate understands its significance, the last remnant of hope of securing any of the benefits that were promised from a Coalition Government will have disappeared. This motion is not directed to the ordinary men and women in the constituencies. They have not got a chance of voting on this motion—not yet, anyhow.
This motion is directed to members of the Dáil. We put it down because we thought that there might be, sitting behind the Government, some Deputies who honestly believed, prior to May, 1954, that a reduction in the cost of living by Government action was possible, or that there might be others amongst them who, though they may have doubted the practicability of doing it, nevertheless, were led into that campaign in the belief that it was good election tactics, without foreseeing what the consequences of that campaign could be. If there are, sitting opposite us, Deputies of either class; if there are there Deputies who honestly believed what they said about prices, when seeking election, and who honestly meant the promises which they gave to bring about a reduction in prices or if there are Deputies there who, while having some doubts, nevertheless thought that promising a reduction in prices was good election tactics and could have no other result except to put a Coalition Government in office, then they have a chance on this motion of retrieving their position.
The question arises for them whether they are prepared, in the light of the circumstances which have now developed, to continue to have confidence in that Government, a Government which has proved itself wrong, first, in promising something which it could not do, and, secondly, in not foreseeing the consequences of making these promises on the scale they did. Every Deputy, when he comes to cast his vote on this motion, will have to remember that he must subsequently defend that vote before the people who sent him here.
During the course of the past year we had various debates on prices on motions, and amendments to Bills, submitted from this side of the House. I do not deny that in submitting those motions or amendments we here were inspired mainly by the political motive of exposing the dishonesty of the campaign which had been directed against the Fianna Fáil Government during the general election. We were not trying to outbid the Coalition Parties in the matter of promises about prices. We knew quite well that the Government could not do what these motions and amendments asked them to do. We knew they could not be accepted by the Government notwithstanding their promises. We did not expect them to accept them but we did think that they would tell the Dáil why they could not accept them. We thought they would use the opportunities given them to explain to the House why it was that the various reductions in prices or taxes which were proposed could not be implemented.
We even failed in that because, as Deputies will remember, we did not get from any member of the Government during any of these debates a clear statement of the reasons why the Government was asking the House to reject these proposals. In each case the House was led along with the suggestion that time was not long enough and that in due course these benefits would be conferred on the public. "Give us time," they said, "and all our promises will be fulfilled."
The general election of 1954 is now more or less ancient history as also are the tactics which won that election for the Coalition Parties, but the consequences of the campaign which they conducted during that election are still with us. They are very much with us to-day. The votes which were given to the members of the House supporting the Government cannot now be withdrawn. For good or ill, as a result of that election, this Coalition Government is in power and is responsible for national policy and for the direction of public affairs. They can stay in office for their full statutory term if they so desire, so long as they are supported by a majority in this House, no matter how disillusioned or indignant those who sent them here may now be.
It is in relation to that Government, holding office with a majority in this House, carrying all the responsibilities which any Government in office must hold, that we ask the Deputies to consider this motion. Our purpose in putting down this motion and asking for time to debate it early in the present session is to attempt once and for all, if possible, to end this whole sordid episode in Irish political development. We are trying, if we can, to force the Government to be honest with the people. We are trying to get them to tell the people of this country the truth about prices. We want them to face up to the situation which their irresponsible campaign about prices has created; to say how they propose to protect the country, its economy and the welfare of its people against the situation which is now developing as a result of that campaign.
In the election of 1954, the Fianna Fáil Party determined to be honest with the people no matter what the result of the election might be. During the course of a broadcast speech which I made prior to the election, I said this:—
"Fianna Fáil, whether it wins or loses, will face the people with an honest policy. Whether people think we were a good Government or a bad one, we tried to be an honest one."
Every speaker who went out from Fianna Fáil, every canvasser in every constituency who was a member of a Fianna Fáil cumann and who went out to solicit votes for a candidate, was instructed to say to those who raised with them this issue of prices which the Coalition Parties had made the main issue in the election, that the Government's power to control prices in conditions of full supply and normal trading was very slight, that a Government might bring down some prices through subsidies, by increasing other prices through the counter-balancing in taxation, but that its power to influence the general price level was exceedingly limited.
We tried to explain to the people that prices could not fall unless the costs making up prices fell. When costs were rising—the costs of imported materials used in production, the costs of primary products purchased from Irish producers, the costs of wages paid to Irish workers— general prices could not fall. We told our canvassers to tell the people that the Government could not effectively control the prices paid for materials and supplies which had to be imported and that we did not believe in endeavouring to rectify the price situation by reducing the prices paid to producers or the wages paid to workers.
On that basis we lost the election. The truth was not strong enough to overtake the falsehoods which the Coalition Party spokesmen were spreading or to counter the campaign initiated by the Coalition Parties directed towards drilling into the minds of the people the idea that price levels were under Government control absolutely, that prices rose only when the Government decided they should rise and that these prices could always be reduced by Government decision. That campaign won the election for the Coalition Parties; that was the idea they set out to propagate and they succeeded in convincing a majority of the people that any rise in prices which had occurred during the period of office of the Fianna Fáil Government was attributable solely to the policy of that Government and that it could be reversed again by another Government with another policy.
They inserted in every national newspaper advertisements designed to secure acceptance of that idea I shall quote as an example of these advertisements in the national newspapers one which appeared in the Evening Mail of May 14th, 1954:—
"Here are the prices in each of the two years. How much extra do these cost you every week?"
And then in heavy type appeared this:—
"Every one of these prices is due to deliberate Government action."
That was the idea——