Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

I am deeply disappointed to witness the shoddy attempt from the Government benches to defend the indefensible. I am particularly disturbed that senior Ministers have failed even to address the essence of the motion.

I wish to address the motion of no confidence because the lies and untruths that have emerged in the past year are undermining the integrity of the political system. Politics is a noble profession that has unfortunately been tainted by a prevailing culture, particularly in the Fianna Fáil Party, of backhanders, double standards and deliberate untruths designed to confuse and ultimately dupe the people.

The Taoiseach's evasion, obfuscation and deeply contradictory evidence at the Mahon tribunal in recent days can no longer be ignored. His efforts to mislead and obstruct the fact-finding efforts of a tribunal, established by his own Government, are base in the extreme. They certainly do not represent the high standards in public office that we should expect from any public figure, particularly the Taoiseach. The Taoiseach's deliberate untruths have contributed to a deep suspicion of politicians among members of the public.

The Taoiseach has even refused to provide us with a copy of his speech. Is it true that he is afraid to put in writing the lies and untruths he has told the House? He must not continue to treat the people like fools. The public has heard his evidence and seen the holes therein. Clearly, it will no longer be duped.

The sequence of events has been outlined by Deputies Enda Kenny, Eamon Gilmore, Fergus O'Dowd and others and it speaks for itself. Since last October the Taoiseach has given three separate and conflicting accounts of the payments he received in the 1990s. His statements have been inconsistent and his explanations completely incredible. More pernicious in terms of its direct impact on public confidence and the public perception of the Taoiseach and other public figures was his tear-jerking performance on RTE with Brian Dobson last April. If it was not an Oscar-winning performance, it may have secured him a walk-on role in "Coronation Street", "Fair City" or some other soap opera. The manner in which he dragged up his personal affairs, although nobody was interested and nobody asked, the way in which he feigned tearful emotion to conjure up the sympathy of the electorate and the way he lied blatantly to the nation regarding his personal finances beggar belief and are utterly unacceptable. Now that he has given contradictory evidence to the Mahon tribunal, it is time for him either to tell the truth and stop treating the people like fools or regain some smidgeon of dignity by doing the decent thing, that is, resigning from his post.

We have heard misleading claims from the Government. During the election campaign the Taoiseach promised full answers at the Mahon tribunal. He is now sending out his wing men, including the Minister for Defence, Deputy Willie O'Dea, to say all the questions were answered by the result of the election. He cannot have it both ways.

The Taoiseach is now trying to blame the legal system for his own failure to come up with credible and coherent responses to the questions posed at the Mahon tribunal. A very famous saying advises that when the facts are with one, one should pound the facts; when the facts are against one, one should pound the law; and when the law is against one, one should pound the table. In this case, the Taoiseach is pounding the tribunal.

We have seen the activity of the Minister for Defence, Deputy Willie O'Dea, and his colleagues in the past few weeks. It is true that the tribunal has been slow but this is because individuals such as the Taoiseach, the late Liam Lawlor, Ray Burke, Frank Dunlop and others have continually hampered its investigation. The tribunal has focused on the Taoiseach, which it is entitled and ought to do, because he was given sums of money in foreign currencies in the 1990s that add up to over €300,000. He has continually failed to give a credible explanation for these moneys. The pounding of the tribunal represents an attempt to distract the House from the central point, that the Taoiseach has once again failed to explain these huge sums in a credible manner. It is time for him to stop playing the people for fools. He pledged before the general election that he would tell us the full truth in the Mahon tribunal when he was given an opportunity to do so. He has such an opportunity this evening. I hope he will have the decency and courage to give us the full truth before this debate concludes.

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