Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Every Member of the House and members of the general public now know that the Taoiseach's days are numbered. The issue to be faced up to is whether his departure from office will be long and painful or whether the Tánaiste will act. What really matters now is not so much what the Tánaiste says as what action he will take. The half-hearted defence he has given the Taoiseach over the past two days does not fill me with a great deal of confidence that his support will continue. The sooner the Tánaiste acts by gathering around himself a couple of senior Ministers, knocking on the Taoiseach's door and telling him the game is up and the country needs to move on from the scandalous and embarrassing position in which the Taoiseach has placed it as a result of the convoluted and unbelievable evidence he has given before the tribunal, the better for all of us.

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