Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

We should leave heads out of this.

The Taoiseach stated recently that we are heading into more difficult economic times and he has left us with a Government that, it seems, has nothing in common but a determination to be in power, a Government with two diametrically opposed parties with acting leaders and the third with a leader on the way out. That is not the way to head into difficult economic times.

Most informed citizens will be incredulous that Deputies Harney and Sargent have been prepared to enter Government with Deputy Bertie Ahern without challenging him to provide reassurance about questions at the planning tribunal that seem incapable of satisfactory answers. Both Deputies, in so far as we know, have been prepared to walk into Government with their eyes open and if they have raised this important issue, the House is entitled to know about it.

For example, it has been little commented on that the programme for Government contains a commitment to reinstate the Bill to permit the Government to shut down the tribunals. One might state that has or does not have merit, but it did not have merit when, in the 29th Dáil, the Greens fought that attempted shutdown tooth and nail. However, it is enshrined in the programme for Government.

Having said that, I offer my congratulations to the two new Green Party Ministers and I wish them every success. They will need every week to chalk up successes, given the bad start they have made. They approached the negotiations for Government with only one clear objective——

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