Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Deputy Ahern is the leader of Fianna Fáil and he is the Taoiseach pro tem.

We are addressing much more than the current allegations in the newspapers. We are dealing with how the Government is sacrificing two fundamentals of democracy — public trust and citizen participation — to advance its own political agenda and to achieve its own political ambition. We are addressing how the behaviour of the coalition parties, Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats, has transformed them into some sort of separate caste — the untouchables as they would have it — beyond the reach of this Dáil and the people.

The Taoiseach assured the nation in the House on 9 December 2003 of his particular brand of ethics. He stated, "Those of us who are in here try to stay here. That is the code of ethics." That is certainly true on the evidence but this country does not have to lower itself to the standards of Fianna Fáil or the Progressive Democrats, to whom the senior Government partner has subcontracted its conscience.

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