Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Yesterday, a total of 270 people were on trolleys in hospitals with 150 in Dublin alone, in the middle of summer when things should be at their most quiet. Crime rates in our capital city are rising. The roof has blown off a building that cost €62 million and underneath it, 5 million litres of water are leaking away every month, but we are told it represents good value for money. We have had 13 Bills produced on the basis that they would be taken before the House rose for the summer recess. Nine of them were not published at all and emergency legislation has been rushed through the House, including more than 100 amendments on the Garda Síochána Bill passed by guillotine. The Taoiseach refuses to come into the House on Thursdays. Now he intends that during the summer period, his fine representative, the Government Whip will propose that in future, Leaders' Questions should be hived off to Ministers who may know more about the issues than the Taoiseach. This has been an appalling period for this Government. It is an indication of just how the public view the Government. It is an indication that Government Members understand that and want to get away to their respective constituencies to prepare for battle. In this context I propose an amendment to No. 4, that the Dáil on its rising today shall adjourn until 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 September. I hope that when the Government Members return refreshed from acquaintance anew with their constituents in their respective counties they will come back with a clear resolve to work harder in the public interest and with a greater degree of competence than they have shown to date. They will need to do so because in the hills and the valleys and in the villages, towns and cities, the people are just waiting for them.

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