Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

-----the Opposition spokesperson on the Labour side explain what she would do differently in the banking sector. She proudly said that she would try to restore AIB and Bank of Ireland to a sound footing. That is something we can all agree on, but a plan for achieving this is something I would be interested to hear from both the Labour Party and Fine Gael.

Fine Gael now has an opportunity, with its new spokesperson, to move beyond what it is against and explain what it would actually do. Does it really want to default? Is that what it will do when it goes into government? Do its members really believe we should not have NAMA? How would they change it? They need to be specific because neither main Opposition party has been in any way honest over recent years about the difficulties facing us. We have managed these and it is now time for us to proceed with the real plan, which is to become a successful trading country which delivers the wealth our people need. We can do it and we are doing it. We will get over our difficulties with the help of our political system. That is better than standing on the sidelines criticising policies without providing any real alternative.

See this speech in context