Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Will talks on a new pay agreement be brought forward, as called for by the trade union movement due to the ever-spiralling inflation we are witnessing currently? Has the Taoiseach noted the comments of the SIPTU president, Jack O'Connor, who has pointed out that many factors leading to inflation are well within the control of Government? On house price inflation, for example, Mr. O'Connor pointed out that four decades after the Kenny report no Government has ever confronted the need to deal effectively with the price of building land or invest sufficiently in the provision of social and affordable housing to maintain house prices at some rational level. What will the new Government do to address this most pressing of issues? Does the Taoiseach agree that the entire debate on housing needs to focus on need, on affordability and on accessibility, and less on price and profit which have very much been the focus of so much commentary and attention over many years? Does he accept this is a key issue in social partnership? What new measures will the new coalition Government introduce? When will the new pay talks begin?

On a matter related to my last question, the social partners include the Government, employers and trade unions, but there is a fourth very powerful influence in Irish society, namely our friends from the fourth estate. In terms of talks regarding social partnership, I am referring to media magnates and Independent News and Media and its supremo, Tony O'Reilly. Can the Taoiseach tell us if any members of the Government attended the pre-election meeting with Mr. O'Reilly? Who attended such a meeting, which the Tánaiste has acknowledged took place? Did the Taoiseach attend such a meeting in the lead up to the general election, and what was its purpose?

Nobody here could disagree that the newspapers in the Independent Group clearly swung in behind the Government in the latter days of the campaign. Was that a by-product of any such engagement? Would the Taoiseach like to tell us where that fitted in to the area of social partnership?

See this speech in context