Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I keep hearing Fianna Fáil apologists such as Deputy Mansergh say that the voters knew all this about the tribunal and the Taoiseach when they voted on 24 May. They did not. They got an explanation of sorts in May from the Taoiseach and many voters took that on trust. That trust was abused because what we got from Deputy Bertie Ahern in September is very different from what he told the people in May.

It is well to recall what a judge said at the tribunal, when Deputy Bertie Ahern was reminded that his story one day was the polar opposite to what it had been on an earlier occasion. If that was the case from one week to the next in September, how can anyone claim that voters got the full story in May? For these twists and turns alone, the Taoiseach has forfeited his claim to be trusted by the Irish people. I remind the Taoiseach of a phrase accountants use in judging financial accounts. He will recall it from his own training and experience — is a set of accounts a true and a fair view or picture? The people of Ireland may well pose the same question to the Taoiseach. Are the stories he has told a true and fair picture of these payments, the transactions that involve large amounts of foreign currency? It is impossible to come to any such conclusion from what the Taoiseach has said in Dublin Castle or from what he told the people that Sunday in May. For these shifting sands alone he deserves to lose the confidence of the Dáil and the citizens of Ireland.

This issue is greater than Deputy Bertie Ahern, the man. He is held in high regard at home and abroad and has many considerable achievements to his credit over his time in public office, not just in the past decade. However, these payments cast a cloud over this reputation and represent a decisive blow to his capacity to carry on in his present post. This country, like many others, in Europe and the wider world, faces a turbulent period of uncertainty in financial markets, as regards oil supplies and oil prices, and indeed the Irish construction industry. We have a changing economic situation, which will have enormous consequences for the public finances and employment next year. When there is uncertainty the public is entitled to political leadership that is above suspicion. I fear Deputy Bertie Ahern cannot offer that leadership to the people of Ireland because he has been less than frank and truthful in this business, and to the people in the run up to the election.

It is not just Deputy Bertie Ahern who has taken a position that is the polar opposite to what he said earlier. The same is true of his new allies in Government. Can the Green Party Ministers so casually turn somersaults and give opinions today that are the polar opposite of their statements to the people in May?

In making a judgment today we should return to first principles. These first principles are set out with refreshing simplicity by Mr. Justice McCracken in his tribunal report. It is not a question of what was legal at any particular time. It is fundamentally a question of what is right and proper for a person who serves as a Minister in a democratic Government. Such a person must not compromise his or her office by accepting gifts that might compromise the conduct of the nation's business. From ancient Rome we can recall the story of how Julius Caesar divorced his wife over a scandal. Caesar's wife had to be above suspicion. So must the Head of the Government. The Taoiseach must be a person above suspicion. Deputy Bertie Ahern fails the Caesar test and for that reason we in the Labour Party believe he should resign his high office.

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