Denis Landy (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, to the House. This motion appears to me to be an attempt at political cleansing by Fianna Fáil. It is attempting to wipe clean the slate in terms of the ills it brought on this country, which were handed over to the current Government. Fianna Fáil is asking us to forget what happened during the 14 years when it was in Government, in particular the past four or five years, and telling us to get on with sorting out the mess. The Government has every intention of doing that. As stated by other speakers, it has done a fine job in the first 12 months of its term in office.

Fianna Fáil is, in tabling this motion, attempting to cleanse its political soul. I suggest it should take a long dip in the River Liffey. It will take a long time to cleanse the sins on the soul of this country as a result of its activities.